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Assam blasts death toll 75

Sushanta Talukdar

Little known Islamist outfit claims responsibility

Guwahati: A little known terrorist outfit — the Islamic Security Force (Indian Mujahideen) — on Friday claimed responsibility for Thursday’s serial blasts in Assam and warned of more such attacks in the State and in the rest of the country.

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil arrived in the State to take stock of the situation and review the security measures in the wake the blasts. Soon after his arrival at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bardoloi international airport here, Mr. Patil flew to the others places in Lower Assam where the blasts occurred — Kokrajhar, Barpeta road and Bongaingaon —and returned to the city in the afternoon.

Mr. Patil reviewed the situation at a high-level meeting with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and top security officials. He said it was too early to speculate on the perpetrators of the blasts; besides doing so would adversely affect the investigation. He, however, gave the assurance that those responsible for the blasts would be severely punished.

Meanwhile, the death toll has gone up to 75, with 12 more dying of injuries in city hospitals and one in Kokrajhar. The death toll in the city has gone up to 43.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi are scheduled to arrive in the State on Saturday to take stock of the situation and visit the blast sites.

A local television news channel News Live claimed to have received an SMS saying: “We ISF (IM) take the responsibility of yesterday’s blast. We warn all of Assam and India of situations like this in future. We thank all our holy members and partners. Ameen.”

Managing Editor of News Live Syed Zarir Hussain told The Hindu that the input desk of the news channel received the SMS purportedly sent from a cell-phone (No. 98640-93690) at 5.12 p.m.

Principal Secretary (Home) Subhas Das said the police were studying the message.

The Assam police, in its initial report to the Home Department, said the needle of suspicion pointed to Islamic terror outfits, the Harkat-ul Jihadi Islami (HUJI) and the Jama’at-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). Based on initial forensic findings, the police said car bombs were used in the all three places in the city and plastic explosives were used to maximise collateral damage. A team of explosives experts of the NSG collected evidence from the sites.

The State government has ordered a Special Task Force, headed by Inspector-General (STF) R. Chandranthan, to probe all aspects of the serial blast and chargesheet those involved.

The city witnessed anger and outrage on the streets for the second consecutive day, prompting the police to burst teargas shells and use force.

Earlier, speaking to reporters briefly at the Kokrajhar blast site, Mr. Patil said he had asked the State government to take the strongest possible action against those responsible for the blasts. “I have come to share your grief. I extend my sympathy to all those who have suffered. I offer condolences to the families who lost their lives.”

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