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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| 15 killed in Assam blast |
| 2004-08-15 |
| Fifteen people were killed and 20 others critically injured when suspected Ulfa men triggered off a powerful blast in Assam's Dhemaji district during Independence Day celebrations on Sunday. The Ulfa and five other banned militant organisations had called for an I-Day boycott. The bomb exploded at 8 am when the deputy commissioner of the district, M. Sahu, was on the way to the podium to hoist the tricolour. The Dhemaji police said that six persons died on the spot. Several later succumbed to their injuries. The dead included seven school children, six women and two aged men. However, unofficial sources said that death toll had gone up to 18. The toll is likely to go up, as the condition of eight injured persons is critical. The state government has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 3 lakh each for the kin of each of those killed. Rs 50,000 would be given to those who were injured in the blast. The government has also suspended both the SP and additional SP of Dhemaji district P.K. Thunglung and Abu Soforia respectively while the deputy commissioner Sahu has been transferred. Reacting to the blast, chief minister Tarun Gogoi said that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act was a necessity and should not be withdrawn from the state. Gogoi said that a district-wise contingency action plan would be drawn up soon and tough measures would be taken against Ulfa activists. "We had information on Ulfa's subversive acts but we failed to stop some of those incidents. Our intelligence network has to be improved", he added. In another incident in Dhubri, six security personnel were injured in an explosion at the venue of the I-Day celebrations. But luckily the celebration was already over. |
| Posted by:Fred |