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Bloodbath in Assam |
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By: Agencies |
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Date:
2008-10-31 |
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Place: Guwahati |
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Deadly: Charred remains of vehicles and bodies near a Guwahati court yesterday. PIC/AP | Coming two days after Diwali, the first explosion in the busy Ganeshguri area here yesterday morning was too powerful to be taken for a cracker burst and the cries of the injured confirmed the worst fears.
"As the area shook, we became sure that it was a bomb and then came the cries of the injured and dying," said Rupam Bhuyan, whose hand was injured in the blast. It was followed by 11 blasts that ripped Assam apart yesterday, killing 66 people and injuring 470.
An immediate curfew was clamped on the city as residents torched police vehicles, fire tenders and buses. A police spokesperson said the blasts began at 11.20 am yesterday and went off in rapid succession five in Guwahati, three each in Barpeta and Kokrajhar and one in Bongaigaon.
"The bombs were strapped on bicycles and the explosives were packed with highly inflammable substances that led to big fires soon after the blasts," said Assam government spokesperson Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Jihadi attack?
According to Assam police intelligence chief Khagen Sharma, "Prima facie, it appears to be a combined attack carried out at the behest of some jihadi forces with the help of local outfits."
The rebel groupd United Liberation Front of Asom, Assam issued a statement denying involvement in the blasts.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi admitted he had not anticipated the strike. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
announced compensation of Rs 1 lakh for the kin of those killed. Singh is a Rajya Sabha MP from Assam.
Major terror strikes in 2008
>>September 13 Six serial blasts in Delhi kill 15, injure over 50
>>July 26 Sixteen blasts in Ahmedabad kill over 50, injure over 150
>>July 25 Nine explosions in Bangalore kill two and injure about 20
>>May 13 Eight serial blasts rock Jaipur, leaving 65 dead, over 150 injured |
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