Guwahati, April 10
At least 40 persons were injured, two of them seriously, when unidentified militants detonated a powerful explosion at daily market at Howraghat in Karbi Anglong hill district of Assam around 1 pm today.
The police informed that there were a large number of people in the market when the bomb went off. The injured were immediately rushed to the Golaghat Civil Hospital. There were five women among those injured.
Police spokesman Bhaben Bez said the militants behind the blast were yet to be identified.
No militant group has claimed responsibility for the blast so far. The area is infested with militants belonging to several outfits, including the ULFA and the Karbi Longri North Cachar Hills Liberation Front
(KLNLF).
Meanwhile, the Assam Police has launched a flush out operation in the thickly-forested foothills of Bhutan after it seized 30 powerful grenades from an auto-rickshaw near Rangiya railway town a couple of days back. The grenades were suspected to be sent by the most wanted ULFA commander, Hira Sarania, who heads the 709 battalion of the outfit, from the Daranga Mela area on the India-Bhutan border in Baksa district of Assam to ULFA cadres in Nalbari district. The police also arrested two couriers, who were carrying the explosive consignment.
The police claimed that it had missed a huge consignment of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) of the banned ULFA by a whisker in the same area a few days back.
