By IANS
Guwahati : At least five people were killed and four injured Thursday in a powerful explosion on a passenger train in India’s restive northeastern state of Assam, officials said.
A railway official said the blast took place around 1.05 a.m. at the Rajdhani Express near Chungajan in Golaghat district, about 270 km east of Assam’s main city of Guwahati.
“Five people were killed and four injured with the impact of the explosion hitting a portion of the luggage van of the train,” T. Rabha, chief spokesman of the Northeast Frontier Railways, told IANS.
The train was not derailed and all other passengers were safe. The New Delhi-bound train originating from Dibrugarh in eastern Assam had since left for its destination at 6.30 a.m.
“There was partial damage to the tracks with just two sleepers affected. It was immediately repaired and the train has resumed its journey,” the official said. The injured were shifted to a hospital in Dimapur, the commercial hub of the adjoining Nagaland state.
Police suspect the bomb could have been planted inside the non air-conditioned section having a capacity to carry some 40 passengers along with cargo. “Preliminary investigations and a look at the extent of damage caused to the tracks indicate the bomb could have been placed in the luggage van itself although a final report is awaited,” Golaghat district police chief P.C. Haloi told IANS.
All the dead passengers were Hindi-speaking migrant workers from Bihar, the police official said. “The needle of suspicion is on two militants groups – the ULFA (United Liberation Front of Asom) and the ALNA (Adivasi National Liberation Army),” Haloi said. “If the bomb was planted inside the train it could be possible the ULFA is involved as the train originated in an area dominated by that group. And if the bomb was placed on the track it could be the ALNA as that group is active in that particular area,” the police official said.
The outlawed ULFA is fighting for an independent Assamese homeland since 1979, while the ALNA is a rag-tag rebel group active in Golaghat and Karbi Anglong districts of eastern Assam and fighting for special rights for the Adivasis, one of the 120 tea plantation workers’ community.
On Dec 4, a powerful explosion hit the engine of a passenger train in the same area, although it failed to impact the coaches.
The Kamrup Express was bound for Tinsukia in eastern Assam from Guwahati when the blast took place.