Fifteen years of Assam Serial Blasts: A blot in the history
Fifteen have passed since the gruesome serial blasts rocked Assam on October 30, 2008.
It remains the third biggest bomb attack ever in India, after the Mumbai blasts of 1993 and the train bombings in the same city in 2006.
On this day, over 90 people lost their lives and over 400 permanent physical disabilities to nine near-simultaneous explosions at Ganeshguri, Pan Bazaar and at the CJM court complex in Guwahati, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon and Barpeta Road that were orchestrated by the Ranjan Daimary-led faction of the NDFB. Several were injured in the brutality.
The explosions in Guwahati ripped through Pan Bazar, Fancy Bazar and Ganeshguri, which were crowded with shoppers and office goers. Three blasts occurred in Kokrajhar, with another possible grenade explosion; one in Bongaigaon and two in Barpeta Road.
The bomb at Ganeshguri was planted in a car and took place about 100 meters from then Chief Minister of Assam Tarun Gogoi’s official residence.
Immediately following the attack the State government issued a high alert and called out paramilitary forces to control a potentially volatile situation.
National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB – R) chief Ranjan Daimary, who was the mastermind behind the blasts, was sentenced to life imprisonment and has been serving his sentence since 2019.
The day is marked as the Black Day in Assam’s history. On this day, the kin of the victims remember their dear ones with teary eyes. Many survivors still recall the harrowing day which claimed lives of several innocents.
Memorial functions were held at the blast sites in the memory of those who lost their lives in the chilling explosions – the deadliest in the history of insurgency in Assam and the entire Northeast.
Assam chief minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma paid tributes to the victims who had scarified their lives to the dastardly act of terrorism.
২০০৮ চনৰ ৩০ অক্টোবৰ দিনটো অসমৰ ইতিহাসত এটি ক'লা দিন৷ সেই দিনটোতে সন্ত্ৰাসবাদীৰ জিঘাংসাত প্ৰাণ হেৰুৱাইছিল বহু নিৰীহ লোকে৷ চিৰদিনৰ বাবে ঘুণীয়া হৈছিল আমাৰ ভাই-ভনী৷ সেই অভিশপ্ত দিনটোত অকালতে প্ৰাণ হেৰুওৱা প্ৰতিজনকে শ্ৰদ্ধাঞ্জলি যাচিলোঁ আৰু আহত হোৱা প্ৰতিগৰাকীলৈ গভীৰ সমবেদনা জ্ঞাপন… pic.twitter.com/1fmURgrOof
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) October 30, 2023
October 30 is marked as a black day in the history of Assam, as the serial blasts rocked the state, leaving hundreds of people dead.
