Assam train blast 2 december 2008

GUWAHATI: Three people were killed and more than 30 wounded Tuesday in a blast that ripped through a passenger train in the northeastern state of Assam, police officials said.

A police spokesman said the explosion went off as the train was stopped at a railway station about 300 kilometers (190 miles) east of Assam’s main city of Guwahati.

One person died on the spot and two succumbed to their injuries at a local hospital.

“There are a large number of women and children among the casualties,” the spokesman said.

No militant group has claimed responsibility for the explosion, but the outlawed Karbi Longri National Liberation Front, fighting for an independent homeland for the majority Karbi tribe, is known to be active in the area.

Last 30 October blast claims 89 people and injured 200 people. 26 November terrorist attacked in Mumbai and killed at least 200 people injured 300 peole.

The Karbi Liongri National Liberation Front, enforcing an “indefinite economic blockade” on national highways and rail tracks in the state, allegedly planted the bomb in a general compartment of Tinsukia-Lumding passenger train which exploded around 8 am, police said.

Two passengers, including a child, were killed and 30 others injured, they said, adding that the injured have been rushed to hospitals.

District Superintendent of Police A K Sarma said that the police had beefed up security in the district in the wake of prior information about the militants’ plan to explode bombs in Diphu town, headquarters of Karbi Anglong district, besides Bokajan and Howraghat towns.

Due to intensified vigil, the militants failed to plant explosive devices in Diphu town and, instead detonated a bomb with a timer device inside the train as it was approaching Diphu railway station, he said.

The KLNLF has called the economic blockade of railway tracks and National Highways 37 and 39 in the district demanding responses from political parties to their 10-point demands, which include among others, exclusion of Karbi Anglong land from ‘Dimaraji’ as demanded by another militant outfit, Dima Halam Daogah (DHD), in neighbouring N C Hills.

Sarma said police has also recovered two bombs also suspected to have been planted by KLNLF militants at the Dokmoka area of the town.

 

England cricket team calls off India tour

England cricket team’s ongoing tour of India cancelled following Mumbai terror attacks. The tour was thrown into doubt on Wednesday night after more than 101 people were killed in Mumbai attacks.

Earlier, England were waiting to hear from the Foreign Office before taking a call on the tour even as Cricket Australia suspended all travel to India.

“We will be guided by the Foreign Office,” an ECB spokesman was quoted as saying by the ‘Daily Telegraph’.

Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium was supposed to host the second Test between England and India from December 19. The stadium is just stone throwing distance away from the Taj Mahal Hotel and the Oberoi Hotel, the scenes of the terror strikes.

The attacks happened after England crashed to their fifth successive defeat to India in Cuttack on Wednesday and reports claimed the terror strikes had left senior England team players concerned.

“We will be guided by the foreign office. We need to get a clearer idea of what the situation is before we react further,” said ECB media relations manager Andrew Walpole.

Even before the tour began there had been security concerns for the ECB after bomb blasts left dozens dead in Guwahati, where the sixth ODI is due to be played on Saturday.

 

Mumbai Under Assault

Current report says that 85 people were killed in mumbai shootout including 6 foreigners and 14 polices. And still few hundred is trapped in TAJ HOTEL, OBEROI HOTEL, CAMA hospital.
Terrorist attacked in 11 places in mumbai. killed at least 87 people including 14 cops.

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For the last several months, bombings have rattled the image of an India industriously humming toward prosperity. Beginning about two years ago, they have occured with increasing frequency: about a dozen such attacks have pockmarked India’s largest cities, from Delhi and Jaipur to Bangalore and Guwahati. And so when the alarms went out on Wednesday night, it looked like Mumbai (formerly Bombay) was being hit by another one of those attacks. The modus operandi was similar: simultaneous blasts in heavily populated areas. But this time, the attack was different.

Indeed, the assault only seemed to grow in frenzy, scope and intensity as time passed. Less that two hours after the first reports of firings and explosions, which came at about 10 p.m. local time, it soon became clear that instead of just crude bombs left on bicycles, scooters and cars, this attack used the whole arsenal: grenades, AK-47s, rifles and a car bomb in a taxi that exploded on the highway headed to the city’s international airport. And unlike previous attacks, which have hit mainly Indians in popular, crowded markets, this one appeared to have targeted foreigners and the posh hotels they frequent. Two of the city’s landmark properties — the Oberoi and the Taj Hotel — were under siege. The grand dome of the Taj caught fire, masked in a purple haze, after terrorists set off an explosion on the roof as police closed in on them. About 300 troops, sent in by the central government, have also surrounded the Oberoi.

A British national, a man in his 30s, who was having dinner inside the Oberoi Hotel, one of the city’s poshest, told the Times Now television station that two young men — in jeans and t-shirts — came in brandishing AK-47s and rifles, singled out those carrying British and American passports and ordered them to the roof. “We went on the 18th floor, it became very smoky, we escaped. Just two of us,” said the British man, who was not identified. As of 2 a.m. local time, several of the hostages were still being held, with dozens of Indian commandos surrounding the hotel.

A member of Parliament, Krishna Das, who was interviewed from inside the Taj Hotel, reported that two men also entered that hotel’s restaurant and started firing, but did not take any hostages. As of 2 a.m., he said about 200 people, including women and children, were still inside the hotel without news of the mayhem unfolding around the city. Meanwhile, bombs have been reported in at least seven sites in Mumbai, with 87 people so far reported killed and nearly 200 injured. At least two Mumbai police officers, who went into one of the hotels to confront the terrorists, were killed. Two of the suspects have also been killed by police. It is not yet clear how many attackers were involved in the assault.

The attacks come at a moment when Mumbai has become a communal tinderbox and terrorism has become one of the biggest political issues in the country. The ruling Congress Party has drawn flak for allegedly failing to take a strong line on terrorism, but the states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, the leading opposition party at the center, have also been targeted.

Late last month, 10 arrests unearthed what appeared to be a possible Hindu extremist terror network, with ties to the BJP. But, for the most part, security agencies and analysts have blamed jihadi groups for the recent terror attacks. And the simultaneous bomb blasts on Wednesday — similar to previous radical Islamist attacks — immediately led most observers to suspect the jihadis once again. For years, India blamed Pakistan’s intelligence services for terror attacks; then the usual suspects became the Harkat ul Jihad Islamia (based in Bangladesh) and Students Islamic Movement of India, a group that has been banned. This summer, a new group emerged, Indian Mujahideen, claiming responsibility via e-mail for several attacks and stressing that their members and grievances were homegrown. A group called Deccan Mujahideen, previously unknown, has also sent an e-mail claiming responsibility for Wednesday’s attacks. That claim cannot yet be confirmed.

In 1993, Mumbai was hit by a series of bombs that killed nearly 300 people. Those were allegedly detonated at the behest of local gangsters in retaliation for anti-Muslim violence by India’s majority Hindus. Those gangsters, including Dawood Ibrahim, are now believed to have escaped India and to be living in the Pakistani city of Karachi.

As the debate over terror continues, various parties have been trading blame. The BJP has accused the Congress of cooking up charges against the arrested Hindu right-wingers, while the Congress has been accusing the BJP of playing a double-game of pointing fingers at the Congress while lending a hand to Hindu-fundamentalist terrorists. Mumbai has been a focus of the tension between the parties, as several of the so-called “Hindu terror” arrests have taken place in or near the city. Perhaps the size and scale of this most recent attack will force the country’s political leaders to finally push through a long-shelved proposal to co-ordinate intelligence on terror incidents between the states and prevent a repeat of Wednesday’s bloody spectacle. With reporting by Madhur Singh/New Delhi

SYDNEY: At least two Australians have been injured in a wave of terror attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai and a 20-person trade delegation is caught up in the violence, officials said on Wednesday.

The department of foreign affairs gave no further details of the two people injured, but issued a warning to all Australians in the city to remain in a safe location and follow the advice of local authorities.

A trade delegation from New South Wales state, of which Sydney is the capital, was staying at the Trident Hotel, formerly known as the Oberoi, one of two hotels targeted in the attacks, the national AAP news agency reported.

“I can confirm a 20-member trade delegation organised by the Department of State and Regional Development booked into the Oberoi hotel,” a government spokesman said.

“We are currently trying to contact them. The last we heard, they were being evacuated from their rooms but we haven’t had any contact since then.”

Nearly 80 people were killed in a series of attacks apparently targeting foreigners in Mumbai as heavily armed Islamist militants hit two luxury hotels — the Trident and the landmark Taj Mahal.

A group calling itself the “Deccan Mujahedeen” claimed responsibility for the assaults on the hotels in the south of the city and a number of shooting and bombing incidents elsewhere, the Press Trust of India said.

• Previously unknown group claimed responsibility
• Group called Indian Mujahideen threatened to attack Mumbai
• Photo of suspected terrorist released
• Terrorists lobbed grenades and shot people
• Terrorists occupied Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and Oberoi Hotel
• 9 militants killed, 9 arrested, 3 detained: CNN
• Terrorists also attacked Cama Hospital, Cafe Leopold, and Ramada Hotel
• Attackers reportedly looking for individuals with British and U.S. passports
• Hostages taken at Hotel Oberoi
• Explosions heard at several locations
• 78 reported dead, hundreds injured
• Three top police officers killed

 

Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami

Indicating a Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami hand behind the serial blasts in Assam, the Border Security Force on Thursday said they had prior information on a possible intrusion by militants from Bangladesh for carrying out the deed.

“BSF’s Tripura frontier had received the information in the first week of October that some 20 HuJI cadres would sneak into Assam via Karimganj sector for carrying out explosions in the state with the help of local outfits,” BSF IG (Assam and Meghalaya Frontier) P K Mishra said.

 

80 kg RDX used in Guwahati blasts

Nearly 80 kg of deadly Research Development Explosive was used in the October 30 serial blasts in Guwahati alone, officials said on Monday as investigators worked on sketches of the suspects.

Forensic officials claimed that nearly 80 kg of RDX was used in the three Maruti cars planted at the three blast sites in Guwahati. The blasts that took place in several parts of the state claimed over 80 lives.

“Such large quantity of RDX were never used to carry out explosions in Assam before as Ammonium Nitrate, with
plasticers as propellants and Programmable Time Devices were usually used to carry out a blast,” said Padmapani, the Joint Director in the Forensic Science Laboratory in Guwahati.

Each of the cars was laden with 25 to 30 kgs of RDX to carry out the blasts and a total of 75 to 80 kgs was used to cause maximum damage, he said.

How can the 80 Kg of RDX be transported to the blast site without the knowledge of BSF, who is guarding India Bangladesh border ? Is our border so porous ? The Congress Govt in Centre and in Assam is turning a blind eye to illegal Bangladeshis. It is not long before Assam becomes a part of Bangladesh at this rate. Already Harkat Ul Jehadi Islami is wanting merger of lower Assam with Bangladesh. All our politicians are cowards, who talk big , but are not proactive on national security.

Twelve alleged members of the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen, arrested in connection with bomb blasts across the country since 2005, have been remanded to judicial custody till November 17 by a special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act court in Mumbai.

 

Gov suspect Huji-ULFA

GUWAHATI: The toll in the serial blasts in Assam rose to 77 on Friday with 11 more

people succumbing to their injuries overnight.

Principal secretary (home) and official spokesman Subhas Das said eight people died in Guwahati, which now alone accounts for 41 deaths.

Three others succumbed to their injuries in Barpeta taking the toll there to 15.

The number of deaths in Kokrajhar remained at 21, he said.

In the deadliest terror attacks in Assam, near- simultaneous blasts had ripped through Guwahati, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon and Barpeta on Thursday, killing 66 people and injuring about 470 others.

Meanwhile, curfew has been clamped in worst blast-hit area of Ganeshguri, adjacent to the capital complex at Dispur, here as protesters went on a rampage forcing police to fire in the air.

The protesters had gathered near a flyover – a few metres from the blast site, shouting slogans against the government’s alleged failure to provide security to the common people.

Deputy commissioner Prateek Hajela said the protesters, turned violent and went on a rampage attacking the security personnel deployed in the area.

The police first resorted to lathicharge to disperse the protesters but later fired in the air, Hajela said.

Ganeshguri had witnessed protests soon after the blasts on Thursday with the mob torching a police vehicle, a fire tender and two ambulances.

They had also tried to storm the secretariat carrying two charred bodies in a push cart.

The entry and exit road to the area has been sealed since the blasts and only a few vehicles were plying on the Ganeshguri flyover, which connects the Guwahati-Shillong road.

All shops and commercial establishments have remained closed in the area since morning. Attendance in the offices was also thin. Frequency of public transport operations dropped significantly in the morning hours.

BJP leader L K Advani visited the blast site near the deputy commissioner’s office where he faced a group of angry lawyers who shouted slogans ‘Advani go back’.

He also visited the Guwahati Medical College Hospital and met the injured in the blast.

All examinations scheduled under the Gauhati University and State Education Board of Assam (SEBA) have been cancelled till further directive.

Opposition Asom Gana Parishad observed a ‘Black Day’ today with its leaders and cadres sporting black badges.

Lawyers of both High Court and Sessions Court in Guwahati abstained from work and held protests outside the court premises.

Bangladesh-based HuJI militants along with other jehadi outfits are suspected to be behind the explosions. Although ULFA has denied its involvement in the terror attacks, police do not rule out the hand of ULFA behind the serial blasts with help from HuJI or jehadi elements.

Of the six blasts in Guwahati, RDX was used in two of the explosions, chief minister Tarun Gogoi has said, adding a special task force has been set up to unearth the conspiracy behind the blasts.

Assam has witnessed massive ethnic violence since early 1980s and ULFA-sponsored insurgency but this is the first time that a terror attack in the form of serial blasts rocked the state in such a magnitude.

 

Fears grip Raj Thackeray

MNS Chief Raj Thackeray held a press conference to speak out his mind on the controversies surrounding his party and North Indians in Maharashtra. Raj Thackeray alleged that nobody raised the issue when Biharis were killed in Assam. But some politicians from Bihar “with vested interest” are targeting him, when Biharis were attacked in Mumbai and Maharashtra.

Raj made it clear that he won’t tolerate migrants not knowing Marathi, but decided against politicising “Chhath Puja” or any other festivals. “MNS won’t stop Chhath (Chhat) Puja. There is no question of violence on Chhath (Chhat) Puja”, said Raj Thackeray. People can celebrate all festivals including Chhath Puja without any fear, said Raj. Raj asked why no probe was ordered when Biharis were killed in Assam.

“Bihar politicians have ganged up on this issue and they are targeting me. Ironically, Maharashtra politicians are united on this issue, which is creating confusion in the state. Nobody wants violence, but it is being imposed. I won’t issue any statement, which may lead to violence”, said Raj Thackeray.

Under attack for his campaign against north Indians, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Friday softened his stand on Chhat puja, saying that he was not opposed to the festival being celebrated in Maharashtra but warned against it being used as a show of political strength.

“I have never opposed Chhat Puja but only spoke against political ‘tamasha’ (stunt) associated with it. People from Bihar who live here can perform the religious rituals according to the customs. My party has never opposed it,” he told media persons in Mumbai.

The MNS chief, whose detention under National Security Act has been demanded by some Union ministers in the wake of attacks on north Indians in Maharashtra, warned that he would not tolerate disregard of the Marathi speaking people in the state.

The Chhat festival will be celebrated on November 4.

Thackeray also asked his supporters to exercise restraint and accused the media of distorting his views and spreading falsehood.

Justifying the killing of a youth who had hijacked a bus in Mumbai, he said the police action was ‘proper’ as no one knew from which state the youth came from.

“What if he had shot some commuters, then you people would have taken the police to task,” he said.

Thackeray also downplayed the killing of a youth in a suburban train during a brawl with a group of youngsters.

“Even the Railway police are saying that there has been no involvement of any political party,” he said.

Besides, he recalled that in an incident sometime back, four Marathi youths where thrown out on tracks by a group of people from other states. “But no one said a word about the incident,” he said.

Thackeray criticised the Maharashtra government and Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh for withdrawing his security and termed the move as ‘political vendetta’.

“I had not asked for security in the first place. But, now it has been withdrawn which is clearly political vendetta. The government keeps changing and even I will have a chance tomorrow,” he said.

“There is a state-level committee, which decides on security according to threat perception and not on the number of cases against the person. After the Babri mosque demolition in 1992, security of political leaders against whom cases had been registered was also increased,” he said.

Thackeray also ridiculed demands to book him under the NSA.

“When Lalu (Prasad) was the chief minister of Bihar, there were 1,200 murders. But, there was no demand to book him under NSA. When Biharis were killed in Assam, there was no uproar,” he said.

“A Goan minister opposed starting of Goa-Bihar railway by saying that the state did not want more beggars. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit also spoke against people of Bihar and UP. But, only when Raj Thackeray speaks, there is a nationwide uproar and Prime Minister has to intervene.”

Lashing out at Deshmukh, Thackeray said he had no expectations from him.

“What can you expect from people whose political survival is at the mercy of Delhi,” he asked.

The MNS chief also said that he would not allow anybody to harm ‘Marathi identity’.

“Political rivals who do not see eye-to-eye on several issues come together. But, it is also very unfortunate that 48 MPs from Maharashtra are mute spectators,” he said, referring to the delegation of Bihar politicians meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

 

India explosions death toll rises

India explosions death toll rises

The hospitals in the main city are flooded with survivors of the blast

The death toll in a series of bomb explosions in India’s north-eastern state of Assam has risen to over 70, the state’s health minister says. Himanta Biswa Sarma said 10 people who were injured in Thursday’s blasts died in hospitals during the night. Indian PM Manmohan Singh, who represents Assam in the upper house of parliament, is due in the state. More than 300 others were injured in at least 18 blasts, the majority of them in the state capital, Guwahati. The separatist United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa) has denied any role in the blasts, blaming Indian “occupation forces” for engineering them. But a statement issued by self-styled “lieutenant” Anjan Borthakur on behalf of Ulfa’s “Military Council” said Ulfa had been blamed as part of a “disinformation campaign”. Security forces have been fighting separatist rebels in Assam for decades. ‘Desperate for survival’ Security analysts say that the group has been blamed for engineering similar serial blasts in Assam in the past. Analyst Jaideep Saikia told the BBC that Ulfa has been behind 11 in Assam since 2002 with between 10 and 40 people killed in each explosion. (Most of Non Assames but now they killed assamese) Biharies are always on target of ULFA and general people support ULFA in Assam. For the past 10 years, the group has been blamed for bombings targeting gas and oil pipelines, oil depots and areas populated by migrant workers.

Assam violence Q&A

Assam police intelligence chief Khagen Sharma told the BBC that the latest bombings proved that Ulfa was “desperate for survival and does not mind killing even local people indiscriminately”. The group began an armed rebellion against what it describes as colonial rule by Delhi in 1979. Thousands of people have died in the violence. An effort to start peace talks between the rebels and the Indian government broke down in 2006. The rebels are seeking a separate homeland for the Assamese people and demanding that non-indigenous people, particularly Hindi and Bengali speakers, leave Assam. Separately, seven policemen and a surrendered insurgent were killed in an ambush by a group called Black Widow in the state’s North Cachar Hill district late on Thursday, police said. The breakaway tribal rebel group, who have regularly attacked security forces and expatriate workers, is fighting for an independent homeland for the Dimasa tribe. Thursday’s explosions in Guwahati and the towns of Kokrajhar, Barpeta Road and Bongaigaon occurred within an hour of each other, after 1100 local time (0530 GMT). There have been a number of major bomb attacks in India in the past few months, many of them blamed on local Islamist groups. But local separatists have been held responsible for recent explosions in north-eastern cities. Two north-eastern state capitals – Agartala in Tripura and Imphal in Manipur – saw serial explosions this month. At least 20 people were killed and more than 100 injured in the blasts.

 

ULFA denies

I also condemn the Guwahati blast and hope that all people will take calm!
I think not all assamese are bad their are some good people also. And my condemn is only for Good people who loves Bihar and biharies. Rest of all is welcome to the HELL.

The banned United Liberation Front of Assam on Thursday denied its involvement in the serial blasts that rocked Assam killing 56 people and injuring over 350 people.

“The ULFA is in no way involved in the blasts in Guwahati, Bongaigaon, Barpeta and Kokrajhar and we condemn the incidents,” an e-mail statement signed by Aanjan Borthakur of the group’s central publicity unit said.

The group also offered its deep condolences to the family members of those killed in the blasts and wished for the speedy recovery of the injured.

The ULFA urged the authorities to ensure proper treatment of the injured.

====
ULFA you will be erased soon!

 

Curfew imposed in Guwahati

Curfew has been clamped in some areas of Guwahati after angry mobs took to the streets and attacked fire-tenders, official sources said.

Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC have been promulgated across Guwahati following the blasts which the police suspect to be the handiwork of the banned ULFA and HUJI extremists, they said.

The injured were admitted to the Gauhati Medical College hospital where blast victims from other districts were
also arriving for treatment.

Three blasts each took place in Barpeta and Kokrajhar districts and one in Bongaigaon district, the sources said.

The first blast in Guwahati occurred at a vegetable and caused a major fire in the area leaving several people dead and scores injured.

An oil tanker there caught fire following the explosion, the sources said.