By IANS
Guwahati : Two people were wounded in an explosion here Wednesday, the latest in a string of attacks linked to India’s upcoming Independence Day celebrations, police said.
A police spokesman said the bomb was concealed in a sack and kept on a cycle rickshaw in the Hengrabari locality. The blast took place at 3.20 p.m.
“Two bystanders were injured while several parked rickshaws and a car were damaged in the explosion,” a police official said.
The area was largely deserted when the blast took place preventing more casualties, witnesses said. The injured were shifted to a hospital with multiple wounds.
This is the seventh explosion in Assam since Sunday and the second in the city.
Three people were killed and 10 injured in the eastern Jorhat town while two people were wounded in a blast in Guwahati late Tuesday.
Two people were injured in another blast Tuesday at Mukalmua village on the outskirts of Guwahati. There were three explosions Sunday in separate places in the state wounding 10 people.
Police have blamed all the attacks on the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).
ULFA rebels in Assam have for years boycotted the Independence Day and Republic Day celebrations to protest against 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 ULFA striking at vital installations including crude oil pipelines, trains, and road and rail bridges, besides targeting security personnel.
The ULFA has been fighting for an independent homeland since 1979.