One person was killed and eleven people were injured in a bomb blast in a crowded Guwahati market on Saturday afternoon.

Five of those injured in the incident were in a serious condition, said senior police officials. The improvised explosive device, planted in a van at the Railway Colony market at Bamunimaidan, went off at around 11.45 am.

Most of the injured victims were local shopkeepers. At least five shops, including a bookstall, were completely destroyed in the blast.

Senior police officials rushed to the spot immediately. The area has been cordoned off and police have launched a manhunt to nab the culprits.

According to the police, the circumstantial evidence and modus operandi strongly indicated that the blast was the handiwork of United Liberation Front of Assom militants. The impact of the blast shattered the van into numerous pieces, and splinters from the van injured four passers-by.

The bomb blast, in a market located in the heart of the city, has cast a question mark over the Army's claim that ULFA militants are under mounting pressure due to the increasing number of counter-insurgecy operations.