Assam serial blasts: 66 dead, over 470 injured

Terror struck the hub of North-East when over a dozen blasts on Thursday ripped through commercial areas of the capital and three other districts, killing 66 people and injuring 470 others. The death toll is likely to rise as more bodies were suspected to be buried in the debris at the blast sites.

66 people were killed and about 470 injured in serial blasts in Guwahati and three other districts of Assam as suspected HuJI militants struck terror in the hub of North-East, considered by far the worst attack.

The first of the 13 bombs, suspected to have been planted by Bangladesh-based HuJI members, went off at around 11.30 AM under the Ganeshguri flyover near the high-security capital complex housing the Assembly building, followed by explosions at Paltan Bazar and Fancy Bazar in Guwahati.

Around the same time, bombs also went off in crowded market places of Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon and Barpeta districts in lower Assam.

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Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi put the toll at 66 dead and 470 injured. Of the six blasts in Guwahati, RDX was used in two of the explosions, he said adding a special task force was being set up to unearth the conspiracy behind the blasts.

Black smoke billowed from the Deputy Commissioner’s Office housing the district courts, which bore the brunt of the attacks in Guwahati, as vehicles, including a number of cars, turned into mangled heaps of metal.

Police suspected that the bomb was planted in the court complex on a two-wheeler. At least 25 people were killed and 235 injured in the blasts in Guwahati where an indefinite curfew was clamped following protests by residents, who accused the police of delayed action.

While 19 were killed and 64 injured in Kokrajhar, 12 died in Barpeta where 46 others were wounded. Five people were injured in Bongaigaon, said Principal Secretary (Home) Subhash Das.

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A red alert has been sounded across the state and army has also been put on alert in view of the security situation, he said after Gogoi held a review meeting with his cabinet colleagues and top officials.

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