Source: The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network
Guwahati, April 03:
A grenade blast triggered by Ulfa ahead of its 12-hour Assam bandh on Wednesday ripped through the heart of the city leaving 13 persons injured, including one woman.
Unidentified persons hurled the grenade in front of a tea stall at the busy Kedar road at about 6.15 pm near the vegetable wholesale market at Machkhowa, where a bomb blast last year by Ulfa had left five people dead.
Police said that one person was seriously injured and he has been shifted to Guwahati Medical College Hospital.
The injured are Bijon Sahu (38), Binod Sahu (22), Gajendra Talukdar (48), Mukut Ali (28), Anil Jain (38), Umesh Sahu (45), Rijwan Sharif (38), Sushil Das (42), Sajab Ali (36), Pranjit Rabha (28), Meena Kumari (40), Niranjan Baraik (50) and Kari Sahu (32).The outfit has called for a 12-hour Assam bandh tomorrow in protest against, what it alleged, inhumane behaviour by the authorities against the wives of six missing Ulfa cadres , who are on a fast unto death stir.
The fast by the six women is to mount pressure on the Government to come out with information on whereabouts of the members of Ulfa, NDFB and KLO, who are reported missing since the Bhutan offensive in 2003.The fast by the six women entered the 13th day on Tuesday.
They are currently in judicial custody at the hospital and the any intending visitor needs permission from the Chief Judicial Magistrate.
Hospital sources said that the women are still refusing to take food or fluid, though a team of four specialists have been put on service to monitor the health condition of the women.
The State Government on Tuesday directed all its offices and services across the State to function normally during the bandh call period.
The Government has requested all Deputy Commissioners and Sub-Divisional Officers to take necessary steps to ensure normal functioning of all Govt offices and services.