Blasts on railway track in Asam, no casualties

Guwahati, April 19 (IANS) A few hours ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's scheduled visit to Assam Friday, suspected cadres of anti-talk faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) triggered a blast near railway track in Upper Assam's Sivsagar district Thursday night.

There were, however, no casualties reported in the incident.

Confirming the incident, Northeast Frontier Railway's (NFR) chief public relations officer S. Hajong said the explosion took place on railway tracks between Bhojo and Longpotia station in the district.

"There is no human casualty. Some portions of the track are damaged due to the blast and we have halted the trains, which are supposed to pass by the area, at nearby stations. Movement of the trains will be affected till the tracks are restored. We are hopeful that the restoration works of the tracks will be done soon," said Hajong.

Meanwhile, in another incident that took place almost simultaneously at Jorhat district in Upper Assam, an explosion damaged a power transformer belonging to Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB).

Although local people have said that suspected militants have lobbed a grenade to destroy the transformer, police denied any involvement of the militants in the incident and said that the transformer exploded due to technical reasons.