2 bomb blasts leave 7 dead, 52 wounded in IndiaMonday, Dhul-Hijjah 6, 1430
GAUHATI: Suspected militants set off two bombs outside a police station in India’s restive northeast on Sunday, killing seven people and wounding more than 50, police said.
Five people died instantly after two blasts went off within minutes of each other outside the station in Nalbari town near the Assam state capital, Gauhati, a local police official said. Two people died later in a hospital, he said. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said what officials had earlier reported was a third bomb in a market a few miles away, turned out to be a firecracker. At least 52 people were wounded in the two blasts, said Bhaskar Mahanta, Assam’s inspector general of police.
India’s northeast is beset by scores of conflicts. More than 10,000 people have died in separatist violence over the past decade. The region is home to dozens of separatist groups that accuse the government of exploiting the area’s natural resources while doing little for the indigenous people.
ULFA: The bombers had parked two bicycles fitted with carriers packed with explosives outside the Nalbari police station, which is located in a congested part of the town, Mahanta said. These went off, killing passers-by and wounding the others. Police said the separatist United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) was behind the blasts, but a senior rebel leader telephoned local newspaper offices and television stations to deny its involvement. The blasts came soon after New Delhi announced the government will provide safe passage to top rebel leaders willing to talk and find a lasting solution to the decades old insurgency in the state. agencies