Blast rocks Rajiv Bhavan Staff Reporter GUWAHATI, March 14 – Exposing lax security arrangements in the capital city in the run-up to the Assembly polls, ULFA militants triggered a powerful IED blast at Rajiv Bhavan – the headquarters of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) – around 6-50 this evening, injuring five persons, two of them seriously.
The ULFA has claimed responsibility for the blast in an email sent to the media. The injured include APCC spokespersons Mehdi Alam Bora and Akshay Rajkhowa, both of whom have been admitted to the Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH). Police said that the blast was the handiwork of the banned ULFA which had earlier issued a threat to Congress workers of the State ahead of the Assembly polls scheduled for April 4 and 11. Rajiv Bhavan sources said that the blast was quite powerful and caused extensive damage to the room of Bora where several persons were present at that time. “We heard a deafening sound and what followed was chaos, with several persons seen bleeding profusely,” an eye-witness said. Bichitra Choudhury, an APCC spokesperson, said that no senior Congress leader was present in Rajiv Bhavan when the blast occurred. “No senior party leader was present in Rajiv Bhavan at that time…the Congress workers are a united lot, and this will only strengthen the resolve of the party to thwart the evil intents of the perpetrators of theviolence,” Choudhury said. Assam Governor JB Patnaik condemned the incident, terming it as a dastardly act of terror. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, while condemning the incident as an act of cowardice, has instructed the police and security forces to apprehend those responsible for the blast. A party worker said that the incident betrayed the abysmal security mechanism in the city. “The ULFA had issued a threat earlier to Congress workers but despite that thesecurity at the party headquarters itself has left a lot to be desired. This is a matter of grave concern,” he said. The blast has sent shockwaves amidst the citizens as well. “This is the ruling party headquarters and the place is hardly three km away from the capital complex at Dispur. Obviously, the security arrangements have been poor even though the Assembly polls are due in less than three weeks’ time,” a local resident said. It may be mentioned that APCC president Bhubaneswar Kalita was scheduled to hand over election slips to the party workers in the evening hours. However, as he missed hisflight from Delhi, he could not attend the function _______________________________________________ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
