Sourabh Jyoti Sharma from Guwahati
At least 4 persons seriously injured and about 10 more got splinter injuries in a low intensity bomb blast that took place at Sukreswar Ghat, opposite MMC Hospital, Guwahati at about 11.45 am on October 13, 2018. According to eye witnesses, though it is touted as low intensity bomb blast but the explosion was very loud breaking the glasses of a City Bus and disbalancing a bike that hit the footpath injuring 2 riders. As it was Saturday and people thronged the busy Fancy Bazar area near the place where the blast occurred, it was suspected that the bomb was targeted against people going there for puja bazar.
Screenshot of Video footage from a local Assamese news channel
Four persons namely Kalpa Jyoti Talukdar, Sanku Kumar Das, Taifuddin Ahmed, Binita Das – who were seriously injured were rushed to nearby MMC Hospital for treatment. Many people also got minor splinter injuries. Though the police are keeping mum on the incident citing further investigation, injured people and eye-witnesses called it a loud and deafening bomb blast. The explosion took place beside a footpath near the Sukreswar temple on the bank of the Brahmaputra at busy Pan Bazar area. Speaking to local media, City Police Commissioner Pradip Saloi said, “We are yet to confirm whether it was a bomb blast or not. We have received reports of sound of loud explosion. We are investigating.” Assam’s Education Minister Shri Siddhartha Bhattacharya along with DGP Kula Saikia visited the place instructing police and authorities to clear the sandy mud below which the bomb has been planted which also injured the nearby trees at the Sukreswar Ghat on the bank of mighty Brahmaputra.
Assam police inspecting the site of blast. Image Credit- Time 8
Police also suspected that the main target of the blast could be Assam CM Shri Sarbanada Sonowal whose convoy just passed by the road where the blast occured at about 11.30am.As news pouring in, ULFA-Indepenedent (ULFA-I) C-in-C Paresh Baruah claimed responsibility for the bomb blast. In a mail sent to the State’s media houses, ULFA-I Chief said that his banned outfit triggered it to warn the State Government from passing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and updation exercise of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
He also warned of more such attacks in near future across the State. As Jehadi terror activities rocked the State Police with jehadi Kamruz Zaman of Hizbul Mujahideen got arrested by UP ATS, the State Goverment needs to be ever more vigilant on it, lest Assam might see more bomb blast and blood-bath in times to come.
(The writer is a Guwahati based academic and columnist)
