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8 killed as bomb explodes in Assam

At least eight people were killed and 56 injured, 20 of them seriously, when a powerful car bomb exploded near the state secretariat on the Guwahati-Shillong road at Dispur.

Director General of Police P V Sumant told the media that Bodo militants might be involved in the explosion.

The bomb went off about 200 metres away from Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta's official chamber at Janata Bhawan on Friday.

The injured were admitted to the medical college hospital.

He said a driving licence was recovered from the spot and the driver and an unidentified person, probably an occupant of the car, were among those killed in the explosion. The number-plate collected from the spot corroborated information that the car was an Ambassador and was in motion during explosion, he said.

He, however, declined to divulge specific details about the licence, adding that Bodo militants were in the vehicle.

It could not be immediately ascertained which Bodo group was involved in the explosion and the motive for it, he said.

Sumant did not rule out the use of RDX in the explosion.

UNI

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