FLASH | Thursday, October 30, 2008 | Email | Print | 
61 killed, 470 injured in serial blasts in Assam
PTI | Guwahati
At least 61 people were killed and about 470 injured in 13 near-simultaneous blasts in Guwahati and three other towns on Thursday in the deadliest attacks in Assam by suspected HuJI militants.
The first of the explosions went off at around 11.30 am near the Ganeshguri flyover near the high-security capital complex housing the Assembly building, followed by explosions at Paltan Bazar and Fancy Bazar here.
Around the same time, bombs also went off in crowded market places of Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon and Barpeta districts in lower Assam.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi put the toll at 61 dead and 470 injured. Of the six blasts in Guwahati, RDX was used in two of the explosions, he said adding that a special task force has been set up to unearth the conspiracy behind the blasts.
Black smoke billowed from the Deputy Commissioner's office housing the district courts, which bore the brunt of the attacks in Guwahati, as vehicles, including a number of cars, turned into mangled heaps of metal.
Police suspected that the bomb was planted in the court complex on a two-wheeler.
At least 26 people were killed in the blasts in Guwahati where an indefinite curfew was clamped following protests by residents, who accused the police of delayed action, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarmah said.
While 21 were killed in Kokrajhar, 14 died in Barpeta Five people were injured in Bongaigaon, Principal Secretary (Home) Subhash Das told PTI.
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