At least eight killed in market blast
A bomb went off in a busy market in the main city of India’s restive north-east today, killing eight people and injuring 19, authorities said.
They said they had discovered and defused a large bomb hidden on a crowded passenger train heading for Gauhati, the capital of the state of Assam.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility in either incident, but police were investigating whether the United Liberation Front of Asom, a separatist rebel group, was involved.
The ULFA, which has been fighting since 1979 for an independent homeland in Assam, has set off more than 20 bombs over the past two months, police said.
In the market blast, the explosives were packed in a three-wheeled auto-rickshaw, a police official said.
Separately, police found an unclaimed steel box on a train travelling from New Delhi to Gauhati during a routine check at a station stop 125 miles outside Gauhati, a railway official said.
Inside the box, police found a bomb, which the army later defused, he said.
Officials believe the incidents might be linked to the state government’s one-year anniversary of holding power, which was to be marked tomorrow with public events.
The state government is ruled by the Congress party, which also leads the governing coalition in New Delhi.
A state minister, Himanta Biswa Sharma, said the festivities would go on as planned. Federal authorities have sent extra troops to the region to maintain calm.
