New Delhi: Seven people were killed and at least 18 others injured when a high-intensity blast took place close to a hospital in Guwahati, on Saturday morning.
According to reports reaching here, the bomb went off in a crowded market in the Athgaon area of the city. The explosives were packed in a three-wheeled auto-rickshaw, CK Bhuyan, the district administrator, said.
He said there was no immediate claim of responsibility even though the finger of suspicion has been pointed to the banned ULFA militant outfit.
Police say the bomb was placed in an auto-rickshaw which was hired by the militants. The bomb exploded at 1030 hours right next to the Marwari Maternity Hospital, one of the busiest commercial area of the city.
The police confirmed that seven people, including the auto-rickshaw driver, were killed on the spot as the bomb left one of the most gruesome sight with severed heads, limbs, torsos scattered all over the busy road.
The impact was so severe that it broke every glass in a radius of one kilometre and damaged more than two dozen parked vehicles. The blast site was one of the ghastliest Guwahati has ever witnessed. The city had witnessed 16 bomb explosions in the last three months. But for the first time in four years, a bomb of such intensity exploded.
Police said the bomb was not only laden with IED, but had been packed in such a manner that maximum impact was derived. The shocked bystanders soon turned their anger on the police, who had a difficult time keeping them at bay.
Meanwhile, ULFA commander Jiten Dutta telephoned a newspaper house threatening more blasts in Guwahati in the next 72 hours. Business establishments had already closed down their shops fearing more explosion as the ruling Congress was preparing a big first-year bash at Guwahati on Sunday.
Top police source confirmed that the ULFA specifically targeted Guwahati as the Congress government was celebrating the first
anniversary of their second term.
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