By Diganta Sharma, TwoCircles.net,
Guwahati: The toll is rising. So far 70 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the devastating serial blasts that ripped through Assam today, badly hitting the state capital Guwahati and Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon and Barpeta districts.
Curfew has been imposed in all affected districts. Markets are closed. Roads are deserted. People are indoor. Though the situation is not tense, state police and CRPF personnel are patrolling the towns. The affected areas have been cordoned off.
The state or central government has not blamed any organization for the blasts, nor has anyone claimed the responsibility. No arrest has been made so far.
In early media reports ULFA was being blamed for the blasts but soon after the reference of Bangladeshis in the statement of BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani, HuJI is now being blamed for the attacks. The organization has not claimed the responsibility.
The blast was so devastating that after explosions nearby buildings, offices and markets were engulfed in smoke and fire.
Most of the injured in Guwahati are being treated at Guwahati Medical College and Hospital.
At least 25 people have been killed in Guwahati, 19 in Kokrajhar and 12 in Barpeta. We have got the list of victims in Barpeta.
List of dead in Barpeta (Upto 8.00 PM on 30/10/2008)
| Name | AGE | Address |
| 1. Abdur Rahman |
55 | Khairabari,
Barpeta |
| 2. Nabi Hussain | 22 | Bonmaza, Barpeta |
| 3. Anwar Hussain |
28 | Do |
| 4. Sidik Ali |
28 | Do |
| 5. Ms Kulsuma Begum |
25 | Do |
| 6. Hussain Ali |
32 | Uttar Athibari, Barpeta |
| 7. Abdul Aziz |
45 | Otagaon, Barpeta |
| 8. Jayanta Das |
30 | Dhupguri |
| 9. Abu Bakar Siddique |
38 | Khunabari |
| 10. Manik Saha |
30 | Barpeta |
| 11. Amzad Ali |
32 | Barpeta |
| 12. Unidentified | 60 | Nalbari District |
List of victims in other districts are awaited.
In Guwahati bomb exploded under the Ganeshguri flyover near the complex that houses the Assembly building. Following the blast smoke billowed from the Deputy Commissioner’s Office that houses the district courts, which bore the brunt of the attacks in the city where a number of vehicles were destroyed. Two advocates have reportedly been killed on the spot while a magistrate was wounded.
Soon after, blasts also occurred at Paltan Bazar and Fancy Bazar in the city.
In Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon and Barpeta districts also crowded market places were targeted.
Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF) has strongly condemned the blasts and lamented the death of innocent people. AUDF has described the blasts as an attack on humanity.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, AUDF spokesperson Dr Baharul Islam described the blasts as proof of intelligence failure. “The government has failed in maintaining law and order and protecting the lives of people,” he said.
He said the AUDF has demanded independent inquiry into the blasts.
He expressed apprehension that some sections may try to give the blasts a communal colour.
He lambasted the media for blaming one organization or the other within minutes after the blasts.
As some sections of the media are taking the name of HuJI he expressed fear that in the name of Bangladeshis, Muslims in the state may be targeted.
In the ethnic violence between Bodo and Muslims, in the last two months in Assam, around 75 people, mostly Muslims have been killed and around two lakh people were rendered homeless.
(with inputs from Mumtaz Alam Falahi in New Delhi)