By Bhupen Goswami

Guwahati : Guwahati blast- one dead in hospital and the condition of two people is critical and all injured have been admitted to three hospitals. Two jawans are also among the injured.At least 12 people were injured in a grenade blast outside a busy shopping mall in Assam’s Guwahati on Wednesday evening. The condition of two people is critical and all the injured have been admitted to three hospitals. Two Sashastra Seema Bal jawans are among the injured. The Zoo road area, where the blast took place at around 8pm this evening, has been cordoned off. Two men came on a motorcycle and threw a grenade in front of the shopping mall at arterial R G Baruah Road just opposite the zoo, Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar said. A faction of terror group ULFA led by Paresh Baruah has claimed responsibility for the attack that rocked the heart of city which is generally bustling with people in the evening. COMMENT Senior police officers are at the Guwahati blast spot and the state government has ordered a probe into the incident.

Assam DGP Kuladhar Saikia today suspected the involvement of the ULFA in the Guwahati grande saying that the organisation was under tremendous pressure and hence they attempted to retaliate by throwing a grenade. He vowed to nab the culprits as 11 people were injured in the blast as the Grenade was thrown by two motorcycle-borne terrorists.  Speaking to media from the blast spot, the DGP said that security was already in place. He also said that the police had been successful against the ULFA in the past few days and even today three senior ULFA leaders came out of the jungle. “It was a massive blow and that could be the reason for this attack. We are investigating and we will come to know soon” said DGP Saikia. Some of the Injured are: Amulya Lalan (SSB Jawan)- seriously injured Ramesh Lal (SSB Jawan) – Injured Amrit Khasar ( Father) – Injured Bisa Khasar ( Daughter) -Injured Kalyan Basishya Fardin Karmar Lala Kumar Yadav Eduward Mamar Hirak Jyoti Barua Father-Daughter duo was shifted to Nemcare Hospital by the family while four are in GMCH and five are KGMT Hospital. One of the injured in KGMT is in ICU as splinter hit him in the back. Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal also called up DGP Saikia and asked them to nap the culprit at the earliest. Assam Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya and Piyush Hazarika visited the spot and injured in the hospital. The eye witness informed that the police was conducting search operation on the two-wheelers in front of the Central Mall when the bike approached and fearing imminent nabbing, they threw the grenade. The Police suspected that they had come to throw the grenade in some other areas but could not due to the police check post.