By IRNA,
Guwahati, India : The death toll in the serial bombings in Assam rose to 71 with seven more people succumbing to their injuries overnight even as a dozen suspects were picked up for interrogation from various parts of the state, officials Friday said.
“Ten more injured people died overnight in various hospitals across Assam taking the toll to 71,” Assam health minister and government spokesman Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
Police meanwhile picked up about a dozen suspects for
interrogation.
“We are making good headway in our investigations and should be able to zero in on the people or groups involved in the serial bombings,” a senior Assam police official said requesting not to be named.
Home minister Shivraj Patil is arriving Guwahati Friday to take stock of the situation.
It was a black Thursday for Assam with the state rocked by a wave of bombings, 12 blasts in quick succession, six in Guwahati, and the remaining six in the three western districts of Barpeta, Kokrajhar, and Bongaigaon.
Sixty-one were killed Thursday in the wave of bombings that also left more than 300 wounded, at least 70 of them critically.
“The injured were being treated at various hospitals and if required we shall shift some of the victims to Delhi or other places for advanced treatment,” the health minister said.
While there was anger in the eyes of the people, police investigators were trying to piece together evidences from the blast sites.
“We cannot comment anything now,” said a National Security Guards (NSG) detective in Guwahati.
A seven member elite NSG team arrived Thursday evening to help in the investigations.
“We are determined to fight back terror and ensure security to the people of Assam,” said chief minister Tarun Gogoi.
Assam woke up on Friday with a steely resolve to fight back terror with people anguished, but not shattered, over the serial bombings.
“We need to fight terror hand in hand with the security forces and go about doing our normal work or else terrorists would get the upper hand,” said Jiban Kakoti, an elderly citizen as he glanced through one of the blast sites in Assam’s main city of Guwahati while undertaking his ritualistic morning walk.
“We are not going to be cowed down by terrorists. Not at all,” said Nirmal Gogoi, a young college student with a voice laced with anger, but with a determined look on his face as he made a quick survey of another blast site in Guwahati.
Charred vegetables, twisted car metal and a carpet of shattered glass surrounded in the heart of Ganesguri area in downtown Guwahati Friday after bombers struck terror.
“Oh God, this is unbelievable, heartbreaking,” cried a young businessman in the area who was consoled by some of his friends to pluck courage to fight back terror.
“I feel like I am lost. Everything is gone,” said the businessman who lost two of his friends in Thursday’s terror run in the city.
Medics, firefighters, police and soldiers worked throughout the night attending to scores of survivors.
“We are doing our best to help the injured although the condition of many of the victims is critical,” said a doctor at the Guwahati Medical College Hospital.
Blackened grocery items showed the fierceness of the fire the blast ignited, and a few bicycles and cars still smoldered Friday as people surveyed the area and spat venom at the dastardly act of terror.
“The government should catch hold of the culprits and hang them,” said a visibly angry Nupur Sharma, a retired police official, in Barpeta district.