Incident Summary:

01/01/2009: On Thursday evening at 1725, the second bomb of a series of three bomb attacks occurred in a market place in Bhootnath area of Guwahati, Assam, India. The bomb was attached to a bicycle and used steel ball bearings. The first bombing occurred at 1425 in a GMC garbage dumpster in Birubari, Guwahati near the Assam Association of the Deaf office. The third bombing occurred at 1740 at a marketplace in Bhangagarh. The bomb was also attached to a bicycle and used steel ball bearings. The combined casualties of all the attacks are five dead and 50 wounded. Two of the deceased were identified as Amal Das (45) and Kohil Sheikh (7). A shop, a market and the garbage dumpster were damaged in the attack. Police said the serial blasts took place as Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram was on an official visit to Guwahati to review security in India's restive northeast. A senior security official said that one of the bombs went off near the route the home minister was scheduled to take. Police suspect the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) to be responsible. No group claimed responsibility.

GTD ID:
200901010013

When:
2009-01-01

Country:
India

Region:
South Asia

Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:

Assam

City:
Guwahati

Location Details:
The attack took placeat a market place in Bhootnath, Guwahati, Kamrup.

Attack Information
Type of Attack (more) Bombing/Explosion
Successful Attack? (more) Yes
Target Information (more)
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property
Name of Entity
Specific Description A market place in Bhootnath
Nationality of Target India
Additional Information
Hostages No
Ransom No
Property Damage Yes
Extent of Property Damage Minor (likely < $1 million)
Value of Property Damage Unknown
Weapon Information
Type Sub-type
Explosives Other Explosive Type
Weapon Details
An improvised explosive device packed with steel ball bearings was used in the attack.
Additional Information
Suicide Attack?No
Part of Multiple Incident?Yes
Criterion 1 (more) Yes
Criterion 2 (more) Yes
Criterion 3 (more) Yes
Doubt Terrorism Proper (more) No
Additional Information This was one of three related attacks (cf. 200901010012 and 200901010014). The available sources listed the fatalities for these attacks cumulatively as five, and the injuries for these attacks cumulatively as 50, so these figures have been distributed evenly for these cases in order to preserve statistical accuracy in the database.
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name Claimed Responsibility
United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) (suspected) No
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators Unknown
Number of Captured Perpetrators 0
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties 2 Fatalities / 17 Injured
Total Number of Fatalities 2
Number of U.S. Fatalities 0
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities 0
Total Number of Injured 17
Number of U.S. Injured 0
Number of Perpetrators Injured 0
Sources
South Asia Terrorism Portal, "ULFA Triggered Serial Bomb Blasts Kill Five Persons and Injure 50 Others in Assam," http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/detailed_news.asp?date1=1/2/2009#1 (Januray 02, 2009).
Zarir Hussain, Agence France Presse, "Serial Blasts in India's Northeast Kill Five: Police," LexisNexis Academic, Januray 01, 2009.
National Counterterrorism Center, "One Child, Five Civilians Killed, 50 Civilians Wounded in Bombing by Suspected ULFA in Kamrup, Assam, India," Worldwide Incidents Tracking System, December 03, 2009.