One killed, 12 injured in Guwahati blast

GUWAHATI: One person was killed and 12 people were injured Saturday in a powerful explosion at a crowded market here, officials said.

A police spokesman said the blast took place near in Bamunimaidam, a busy commercial area, at 11.55 a.m.

"The bomb was probably planted in a parked auto van. Most victims were pedestrians, shoppers and vendors," Rajen Singh, Guwahati's additional police chief, told.

The market sells vegetables, fish, meat, groceries and garments.

"At least five shops selling textiles were gutted besides a few cycle rickshaws. The auto van was completely damaged," Singh said.

The injured were shifted to hospitals with multiple wounds.

"The condition of at least four of the victims were critical," a doctor at the Guwahati Medical College hospital said.

Police blamed the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), a rebel group fighting for an independent homeland since 1979, for the blast.

"This is the handiwork of ULFA and an attempt to make their presence felt," the police official said.

The ULFA was earlier blamed for a string of attacks killing about 30 Hindi-speaking migrant workers in Assam in July. The rebel group has also carried out about 25 explosions this year.