2 hurt in Assam bomb blast
Afp, Guwahati
Two people were critically wounded by a bomb blast yesterdayat a food depot in India's northeast state of Assam that police said could be linked to a ransom demand by separatist rebels.A police spokesman said the explosion occurred at a depot run by state-owned Food Corporation of India in Assam's main city of Guwahati. "Two of the workers were seriously injured in the blast. We suspect it to be an improvised explosive device," a senior police official who asked not to be named told AFP. The blast was linked by police to the United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) which has been fighting for an independent homeland since 1979. The rebels kidnapped Food Corporation director Phulchand Ram in April and demanded a two million rupee ransom (50,000 dollars) for his release. "Maybe the blast at the depot was a warning by the Ulfa to pressurise the department to cough up the ransom money," the police official said. The rebel group was unavailable for comment.
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