GUWAHATI: One person was killed and 16 others were injured when a bomb planted by suspected ULFA militants exploded close to the venue of a Congress rally on Tuesday evening a few minutes before External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukerjee was due to address the meeting.
The blast occurred near a hotel at Jyotikuchi area of the city and the bomb was planted on a motorcycle.
The police said the bomb might had been planted by members of the ULFA who had recently sneaked into the city to carry out subversive activities ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
The city has been put on high alert following the blast particularly in view of the visit of a host of political leaders for campaigning.
Some of the injured including Narayan Dutta, Gobinda Chetri, Bubu Gogoi, Rajesh Bora, Ranjit Pandit, Budu Deka and Montu Deka were admitted to the Guwahati Medical College hospital.
Mr Mukherjee later had a proverbial miraculous escape after his helicopter hit an air pocket when he was going from here to Silchar for an election rally.
His chopper had an abrupt altitude fall probably due to the downward air current, but the pilot guided it to safety and flew back to Guwahati, Congress leaders here said.
"It was a close shave. Mr Mukherjee visited the Kamakhya temple to offer prayers after returning here," Assam Congress chief Bhubaneswar Kalita said. (With inputs from IANS)
THE SHILLONG TIMES
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