By IANS
Guwahati : Three people were killed and 10 wounded, four critically, in a powerful explosion Tuesday in Assam’s Jorhat district ahead of the Aug 15 Independence Day celebrations.
The explosion took place in front of a police station in Jorhat, 310 km east of Guwahati.
“The bomb was concealed in a sack and kept on a parked bicycle near the police station,” Jorhat police chief Deepak Choudhury told IANS over telephone.
The injured, four of them policemen, were shifted to a local hospital with multiple injuries.
“The area was crowded with people when the blast took place. It was a very powerful explosion that was heard from a distance of about three km,” another police official said.
This is the fourth explosion in two days – 10 people were wounded Sunday in three separate blasts in Assam. Police have blamed all the attacks on the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).
ULFA is attempting to step up attacks ahead of Independence Day. Rebels in insurgency-hit Assam, the largest among the seven northeastern states, have for years been boycotting the Independence Day and Republic Day celebrations to protest the central government’s rule over the vast region rich in oil, tea and timber.
The run-up to the events has always been violent, with rebels of the outlawed ULFA striking vital installations including crude oil pipelines, trains and road and rail bridges, besides targeting federal soldiers.
The ULFA is fighting for an independent homeland since 1979.
More than 30 rebel armies operate in the northeastern states, their demands ranging from secession to greater autonomy and the right to self-determination.