Blasts, hoax bombs keep state on tenterhooks

A fear psychosis has gripped Assam following the ULFA’s endless spree of violence, carried out through a series of explosions...

A fear psychosis has gripped Assam following the ULFA’s endless spree of violence, carried out through a series of explosions, which continued to rock the state on Wednesday.

While a powerful blast occurred in Tinsukia in Upper Assam around 9 am on Wednesday, a blast in Bongaigaon on Tuesday left four persons injured. Also on Tuesday night, a woman was injured in an explosion at Kamalpur, about 35 km north of Guwahati.

Meanwhile, in Guwahati, reports that bombs had been found in two localities — including near the Lokapriya Badroloi International airport — created panic in the state capital.

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However, the bomb near the airport turned out to be an empty cardboard box and the one in Gopinathnagar area was a tiffin box that belonged to a daily wage labourer.

In Guwahati, the local administration has banned vendors and hawkers from squatting on roadside pavements and all the municipality markets have been asked to shut down by 5:30 pm.

The Kamrup (Metro) district administration, on Tuesday, had ordered that shops in certain localities be shut down by 6 pm.

Meanwhile, the Asam Sahitya Sabha — Assam’s highest literary body — today took out a peace procession in the state capital, in which large number of citizens and students displayed placards and festoons, demanding peace. Several leaders of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) also took part in it.

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