Brahmaputra Mail Train Bombing @Assam

 30th December 1996: Brahmaputra Mail Train Bombing @Assam 


The Brahmaputra Mail train bombing was a terrorist attack on a train traveling in Western Assam in Eastern India on 30 December 1996. The bomb totally wrecked three carriages of the train and derailed six more, killing at least 33 people. 

The bomb was of unknown composition and had been left next to a line of track between Kokrajhar and Fakiragram stations. It is likely the bomb was detonated by a remote control device, and timed to cause maximum destruction, as the Brahmaputra Mail passenger service to New Delhi came past at high speed. 

Official reports claimed that 33 people were killed in the explosion, but the remote region in which the blast occurred and government desires to minimize the impact of the attack has led some commentators to question this figure. Some have claimed that 100 fatalities are a more likely figure. 

The Indian government blamed the attack on an Assamese separatist organization, the Bodo Security Force, and although they have not admitted guilt. Indian police said Monday that at least 26 bodies have been recovered after a bomb derailed an express train, and dozens more were injured. 

Most of the passengers were believed to be vacationers heading for Delhi to celebrate the New Year. The train was carrying an estimated 1,200 passengers. At least 50 injured were taken by rail to nearby hospitals. 

Police in Kokrajhar said a bomb planted on the rails went off shortly after the New Delhi-bound Brahmaputra Express left Kokrajhar in the jungle terrain of Assam state. The train's engine and its first coach car were derailed by the blast, and the next three rail cars were severely damaged, an official said.No one has claimed responsibility, though the separatist Bodo rebel faction was believed to be involved.

 


A senior police official in Assam's biggest city of Gauhati told Reuters he blamed separatist Bodo militants, saying they had used a remote-controlled device packed with explosives to blow up the train. 

"The blast took place at 7:15 p.m., a few minutes after the train left the Kokrajhar station for New Delhi," police said. 

Earlier, more than 5,000 trucks were stranded and road links severed between India's eastern states and the rest of the country after tribal rebels blasted a key bridge in Assam. The bridge, about 125 miles (200 km) from Gauhati, links Assam and six other states to the rest of India.The Bodo tribe has been fighting for a separate homeland for 20 years. Its members claim that their culture is being undermined by Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh, who are drawn to the Brahmaputra River's rich farmlands. 

However, the Bodos recently split, and police said the rival Bodo factions may be vying to prove their strength

Location: India

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