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Serial blasts in Agartala; 2 killed

By Vicky Nanjappa & K Anurag
Last updated on: October 01, 2008 23:11 IST
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The North-Eastern part of the country was struck on Wednesday night with four blasts rocking Agartala, the capital of Tripura.

Two persons were killed and 30 others injured in the blasts. The condition of 10 is said to be critical.

The first blast occurred at 0730 pm  at Gul Bazaar while the second explosion was reported at Radha Nagar bus stand at 0730 hours. The third and fourth blasts occurred between 8.15 and 8.30pm at Colonel Chamani area and Gol Market.

The areas where the blasts took place have been cordoned off by an army of policemen. The bomb disposal squad and the dog squad have been pressed into service, while another team continues to search for more bombs in the city.

Chief Minister Manik Sarkar held an emergency meeting with top police officials immediately after the blasts even as a red alert was sounded throughout the state.  The security along the international border has been beefed up.

IB sources say that the blasts were low intensity in nature and timer devices were used to trigger off the attack. While no outfit has claimed responsibility for the blasts, the needle of suspicion is on the Harkat-ul-Jihadi.

IB sources told rediff.com that the HuJI, which is alleged to have masterminded the twin blasts at Hyderabad and the Ajmer blasts, was working closely with militants in the North East. The HuJi is closely linked with several militant outfits in Assam such as the ULFA and the PULF. HuJI had also set up camps in the North East and were actively training people over there, IB reports suggest.

While the intention of the North East militants has always been to destabilise the system, HuJI uses this opportunity to enter India.

HuJI, according to IB, is taking strategic advantage of the border with Bangladesh in order to destablise India. Militant groups in Pakistan, too, had realized that it was difficult for them to enter into India through the Western side and hence had utilized the services of Bangladesh based HuJI to penentrate the borders from the east.

The IB is also looking into the email sent by the Indian Mujahideen last in which a threat was handed out to BJP's Prime Minister in waiting, L K Advani, who is scheduled to tour North East.

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Vicky Nanjappa & K Anurag