Five killed as serial blasts rock Asom

Guwahati, June 30 (UNI) Serial explosions triggered by the banned ULFA in the insurgency-dominated Tinsukia district of upper Asom killed at least five people and injured over 30 this evening.

In two other incidents, kidnapped Food Corporation of India executive director P C Ram's body was found while a grenade explosion at Diphu town critically injured six others.

Police said the first blast at a crowded fish market in Tinsukia town at around 1710 hours killed two persons instantly. The IED was kept in a pressure cooker and placed in front of a hotel.

Seconds later, another blast in the adjacent food market, teeming with customers, injured over 40 people, including two sub-inspectors and six Asom Police Battalion (APBN) personnel. The wounded were rushed to the Tinsukia civil hospital. The seriously injured were later referred to the Asom Medical College and Hospital where three of them succumbed to the injuries.

Almost simultaneously, a third explosion near Ananta Talkies, barely 500 metres from Doomdooma police station, some 20 km from Tinsukia town, wounded ten people, some of them critically.

Tension prevailed in both the townships as businessmen downed their shutters and people ran helter-skelter.

The kidnapped FCI's Executive Director P.C.Ram was found dead in Baska district. His body was identified by the family members at Nalbari.

The government executive was abducted by ULFA for ransom on April 14 last.

Reports from Diphu said the grenade was thrown by suspected Karbi militants working on behalf of the ULFA and the incident took place in the main market area of the town in front of a temple at 1900 hours.

The chief secretary and the Director General of Police had reviewed the situation as Asom Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is in London for a trip to US.

UNI