13 hurt as ULFA strikes Guwahati again

Guwahati, May 6 (UNI) At least 13 people, including a CRPF jawan, were injured when the outlawed ULFA triggered a powerful blast in the busy Fancy Bazar area here today.

A senior police official said an IED, planted by ULFA militants in the petrol tank of a motorcycle, went off near the Sani Mandir area of Fancy Bazar at 1813 hours.

All the injured were rushed to hospital, where the condition of some was stated to be critical.

The casualty figure could have gone up, had it not been a Sunday.

Senior police officials, including IGP (SB) Khagen Sarma, DC Avinash Joshi and City SSP SN Singh, rushed to the spot.

This was the fourth ULFA strike in the area, a business hub of the capital city, in seven months.

The residents of the Fancy Bazaar area were mostly Hindi-speaking.

In a major blast at Chai Gali in the area on November five, 12 people, mostly Hindi-speaking, were killed.

In another incident, a car bomb was planted on the same spot in February last. However, the bomb exploded after the unclaimed car was towed away by police to the Panbazar police station.

UNI