Tinsukia (Assam): At least 12 persons were injured, some of them seriously in a powerful bomb explosion by suspected ULFA (United Liberation Force of Assam) in the heart of the commercial town of Tinsukia in Upper Assam today (June 19, 2004).

The improvised explosive devise (IED) fitted to a bicycle and left near a public urinal near some shops, exploded just before noon in the busy main grocery market on Chamber Road, the police said.

Most of the victims were daily wage earners, thelawalahs (handcart pullers) and rickshaw-pullers engaged in the transportation of grocery goods.

The blast created panic in the area with shopkeepers immediately downing their shutters and taking shelter inside their shops or fleeing the area.

Eye witnesses said the deafening explosion shattered the glass windows and doors of the shops and nearby houses.

Senior district civil and police officials have rushed to the area, cordoned off the place and were conducting rescue operations there, the police said.

The injured were admitted to a hospital here and two of them had been shifted to Assam Medical College Hospital in nearby Dibrugarh.

Today's explosion is the third in the series of attacks by suspected ULFA in Tinsukia district since June 9, when the outlawed ultras exploded a grenade in a cinema hall here and triggered a bomb in Doomdomma.

The insurgent outfit has been making sporadic attacks to make its presence felt since its camps were demolished in Bhutan and also resorting to extortion and recruitment of cadres to replenish its depleted manpower since the flush-out operations.