Cong leaders injured in Ulfa blast at party HQ in Assam
Suspected Ulfa rebels on Monday triggered a powerful bomb blast at Rajiv Bhavan, the Assam Congress headquarters in Guwahati, leaving five Congressmen seriously injured. These included the state party spokesperson and a PCC general secretary. The attack took place exactly three weeks before the two-phase Assembly elections begin in the state on April 4.
The police suspects that the improvised explosive device (IED) was planted inside a room. The blast’s intensity was such that it blew up the roof, side wall and window of the PCC office-bearers’ room.
The attack comes soon after Ulfa’s elusive chief Paresh Baruah openly threatened the Congress over its alleged attempt to create divisions in the outfit by engaging one Ulfa faction in peace talks with the government. Mr Baruah called up local television news channels soon after Monday’s blast to claim responsibility for the attack.
Among the critically injured were party spokesperson Mehdi Alam Bora and general secretary Ranjan Bora. They have been shifted to Guwahati Medical College Hospital, where sources said they are out of danger. The other three, who received minor splinter injuries, were Anjan Gogoi, Kalyan Gogoi and Akhya Rajkhowa.
Assam DGP Shankar Baruah, confirming it was an IED blast, said the police was yet to identify the group behind the attack. “We have started investigations just now, so it is too early to reach any conclusion,” he said. He added that explosives experts had been called in to ascertain if RDX was used to trigger the blast.
The bomb was planted at Rajiv Bhavan despite the presence of a high-security cordon around the building in the heart of the state capital. Hundreds of people were inside when the blast occurred. PCC chief Bhuwaneswar Kalita was also expected to visit the office to meet party workers around that time.
The incident has created considerable panic among Congress workers in the state. The Congress said in a statement that violent attacks by Ulfa to intimidate Congress workers would not help resolve the conflict. Assam minister and government spokesman Himanta Biswa Sarma said Ulfa chief Paresh Baruah was targeting the Congress to help the AGP. “Such attacks won’t demoralise Congress workers,” he said.
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi visited the injured partymen at the hospital later on Monday and called on all parties to condemn the incident. “Ulfa has always tried to slow down the state’s development by its subversive activities.”
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