Blast rocks Congress headquarters in Assam

The explosion,believed to be caused by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED),took place around 6:55 pm and severely damaged the APCC media department office – a separate tin-roofed house within the Rajiv Bhavan campus on GS Road here.

Five persons,including APCC general secretary Ranjan Bora,were injured. Spokesman Mehdi Alam Bora was severely injured.

Assam Police Director General Shankar Barua said it was too early to identify the culprits behind the blast.

But ULFA commander-in-chief Paresh Barua called up some media offices in Guwahati within minutes of the incident and claimed responsibility for the attack.

“It is too early to say who caused the blast. But it is a fact that the ULFA had issued a threat sometime ago,” Barua said. The police had already begun an Inquiry,the DGP said.

“It seems to be an IED,” he added.

About three weeks ago,Paresh Barua had issued a statement through e-mail,warning the Congress of serious consequences during the elections.

The ULFA leader had accused the Congress Government of engineering a split in the militant group and luring a section of its leaders,including Chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa,in the name of peace talks.

Describing the incident,Congress media department official Bichitra Choudhury said he and four people – Ranjan Bora,Mehdi Alam Bora,Akshay Rajkhowa and another APCC secretary Kalyan Gogoi – were discussing the next day’s plan for the media wing when he heard a loud sound that was immediately followed by smoke.

“At first I did not realise it was an explosion. But a few moments later I found that all of us except Mehdi Alam were thrown out of our seats. The back wall and a portion of the roof had collapsed,” Choudhury said.