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Assam passenger train escapes blast
Published on Mon, Oct 16, 2006 at 22:25, Updated on Mon, Oct 16, 2006 at 22:55 in India section
Tags: Narrow Escape, Blast , Guwahati
Guwahati: A major mishap was averted in Assam on Monday when an insurgent bomber was killed while trying to plant explosives on a railway track minutes before the Brahmaputra Mail was to cross, officials said.
A police spokesman said an unidentified insurgent belonging to the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) was killed when an improvised explosive device he was carrying went off prematurely. The incident took place at Bongaigaon town, about 230 km west of Guwahati.
"The rebel was probably trying to plant the bomb on a railway track when it went off killing him on the spot," the spokesman said.
The packed Chennai Express had crossed the spot 10 minutes before the explosion, while the Brahmaputra Mail was scheduled to cross Bongaigaon minutes after the blast.
"It would have been a disaster had the rebel managed to plant the explosives on the track," the official said.
There were two powerful blasts in Guwahati although there were no casualties.
"Two improvised explosive devices went off near a railway warehouse although no one was injured," he said.
In another incident, ULFA insurgents shot dead a surrendered militant in Baihata Chariali, about 40 km from Guwahati.
The ULFA, fighting for an independent Assamese homeland since 1979, has been blamed for a string of explosions and grenade attacks in the past three weeks killing five people and wounding about 50 more, including a dozen army soldiers.
The army is engaged in a massive military operation against the ULFA after the six-week ceasefire was called off last month.
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