Mahanta has providential escape as bomb explodes minutes after his motorcade passes

Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta had a providential escape as a powerful bomb exploded at Kamakhya Gate in Guwahati on Sunday.

The bomb exploded at about 1.05 pm under a culvert on the AT Road as his convoy passed it. Mahanta was returning from New Delhi. None was injured in the explosion, but a big crater was created on the road and windows of a nearby school were blown off under its impact. This is the first attempt on Mahanta's life.

The police suspected the banned United Liberation Front of Asom's involvement in the explosion. Seven persons have been picked up from various parts of the state. Some incriminating documents were seized from two of these militants on Sunday.

Official sources said the explosion occurred just after the chief minister's convoy passed the area. The bomb was operated from a temporary shed across the main railway line connected by a wire.

Insurgent groups operating in the state had issued a warning to the government for launching a security operation against them. No organisation has claimed responsibility for Sunday's explosion even as the security forces have been put on maximum alert and operation against the insurgents intensified.

Senior police officials said they were confident that they would be able to nab the militants involved in the explosion. Two ULFA activists -- Rupak and Champak Baishya from Nalbari district -- were suspected to be involved in the explosion, they added.

Asked how the militants learnt that the chief minister had advanced his arrival from New Delhi, the source said the militants had access to the wireless system of the state police. ''Even changes in frequency do not help,'' the police said.

The fact that the militants were aware of the changes in the chief minister's itinerary has caused a ripple in the political and police circles. UNI