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| Headlines Vol. 2 Issue7-8 | June 22- July 6 , 1999 |
ISI hand suspected in Siliguri blast Apprehensions about fresh ISI strikes in the North-East region in wake of the Kargil conflict became true when a powerful bomb exploded at the New Jalpaiguri railway station. The blast has claimed nine lives, while at least 80 people were injured. The outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) has reportedly claimed responsibility for the blast. Highly placed sources pointed out that the explosion might have been organised with a view to disrupting movement of troops towards the Kargil front from the North-East region. According to eyewitnesses, a briefcase containing RDX exploded around noon on one of the platforms of the New Jalpaiguri railway station, where the jawans of the Gorkha Regiment were waiting to board Mahananda Express bound for Jammu. So severe was the explosion that a part of the platform roof was blown up and a crater formed on the ground. Three jawans and five civilians were killed on the spot. From the modus operandi of the blast, it was clear that the ISI was behind the blast. The suspicion has further been consolidated from the fact that the bomb targetted the jawans, who were to be deployed in the Kargil sector. However, it is not clear which underground outfit had helped the ISI in its subversive activities. As the ULFA, for long being aided and abetted by the ISI, many think that the outlawed organisation had carried out the blast under the instructions of the ISI. After the Kargil conflict started, the ULFA publicly extended its support to the Pakistan army regulars and Afghan mercenaries. The banned organisation even termed the infiltrators as 'freedom fighters'. There is another possibility that the blast may be the handiwork of Kamtapuri Liberation Organisation (KLO), another underground outfit having close links with both the ISI and the ULFA, which demands separate state comprising areas of North Bengal and lower Assam. The blast took place within 48 hours of the Government issuing warning against ISI-backed infiltrators trying to sneak into north Bengal across India-Nepal border. |
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