Twin blasts rocks Assam, five killed, 50 injured (Second Lead)

Two powerful explosions rocked Assam's Nalbari town Sunday, killing five people and wounding more than 50, police said.

The explosions are seen as a retaliatory strike by the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) after two of its senior leaders were arrested earlier this month, officials said.

The blasts took place in a span of about 20 minutes, beginning at 10 a.m. Nalbari town is about 70 km west of Assam's main city of Guwahati.

"Preliminary reports indicate five people were killed and more than 50 injured in the twin explosions," a senior police official said.

Police had earlier claimed there were three explosions. They later confirmed there were just two blasts, and the third was just firecrackers going off in a nearby locality.

The first explosion took place just outside the Nalbari police station, while the second went off about 20 meters away around 10.20 a.m. near a market.

"Both the bombs were packed in sacks and kept on parked bicycles," the official said.

Most of the victims were morning shoppers or vendors as there was a Sunday market teeming with people close to the blast sites.

"It was total panic and chaos with human limbs strewn all over the place and blood splattered on the road," Ankur Das, a witness, told IANS.

"The sound of the first blast was deafening. The second explosion took place in front of our eyes. Many people who came rushing to the site of the first explosion got injured in the second blast," another witness Biplab Barman said.

Police blamed the ULFA for the twin explosions.

"The modus operandi of the two blasts suggests it was the handiwork of the ULFA. The explosions are nothing but attempts to make a point after two of their top leaders were arrested," the official said.

ULFA "foreign secretary" Sasha Choudhury and "finance secretary" Chitraban Hazarika, in police remand since Nov 6, were arrested by the Border Security Force (BSF) near Gokul Nagar in Tripura Nov 5 while trying to sneak into India. The duo were based in Dhaka. The ULFA has denied their arrest.

There have been reports in a section of the media that the two were arrested in Bangladesh and handed over to the Indian authorities Nov 2.

On Monday, ULFA rebels blew up a petroleum-laden train in eastern Assam. At least 20 wagons went up in flames and a loss of Rs.100 million was estimated.

The ULFA is a rebel group fighting for an independent homeland in Assam since 1979. The insurgency in the state has claimed about 10,000 lives in the past two decades.

Last updated on Nov 22^nd, 2009 at 12:36 pm IST--IANS