Shivraj Patil visits blast- affected areas in Assam
Guwahati, Oct 31: Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil today visited Kokrajhar to to take the stock of the situation after Thursday''s serial blasts in the state in which 70 people were killed and over 300 injured.
The Home Minister visited the blast sites to access the intensity of the blast. He also visited Kokrajhar Rupnath Brahma Civil Hospital and meet some of the blast victims.
Talking to reporters, he said that he would take the matter with the state government and assured all possible help from the Centre.
Senior BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, L K Advani, is also arrived here this morning and visited the blast sites at Panbazar, Kachari Ghat and Ganeshguri and the injured in the hospitals.
Later, talking to reporters he blamed the Centre and the State Government''s inaction responsible for blast and said that the blasts have confirmed once again that Bangladesh soil is being used for anti-India activities.
He urged the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to put diplomatic pressure on the Bangladesh authorities to prevent such activities.
Meanwhile, a massive search operation has been launched to arrest those involved in blasts.
A seven-member National Security Guard (NSG) team has already reached Guwahati to identify the explosives used in the blasts.
Twelve high intensity serial blasts rocked Guwahati and some other cities of Assam on Thursday morning.
The first explosions took place near the Ganeshguri flyover near the high-security capital complex housing the Assembly building, followed by explosions at Paltan Bazar and Fancy Bazar in Guwahati.
Around the same time, bombs also went off in crowded market places of Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon and Barpeta in lower Assam.
Meanwhile, Indian Mujahideen, a frontal organisation of HUJI and Lashkar - e Toiba - has claimed responsibility for Assam serial blasts. It made the claim in an SMS sent to a local TV channel. (ANI)