Two people, including a local politician, were killed and at least 19 wounded in a series of blasts and a shooting in India's revolt-torn northeastern state of Assam, police said on Sunday, according to Reuters. Police blamed the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), which was also held responsible for the massacre of 72 migrant labourers earlier this month. The ULFA, fighting for Assam's independence, has stepped up violence since peace talks with New Delhi failed last year. Fifteen people were wounded in an explosion in a market in Barpeta district, 140 km (90 miles) west of Assam's main city Guwahati on Sunday, shortly after two men on a motorcycle hurled a grenade in the same area, killing one person and injuring two. "This is again the work of the ULFA and massive search operations have been launched in that area to catch the militants," a police official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters by telephone. Earlier in the day, explosives hidden in a motorcycle blew up in the parking area of the New Bongaigaon railway station in western Assam, wounding two people. In a separate incident, suspected ULFA militants shot dead a district-level ruling Congress party leader in Digboi town in eastern Assam late on Saturday night, police said.
