Muslims held over India bombings

Source: Agencies  |   2008-11-2  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

INDIAN police detained three Muslims yesterday after a little-known Islamist group claimed responsibility for bombings that killed 77 people in the troubled state of Assam last week.

A police official said that a car and mobile phones used to detonate bombs in the remote northeastern state, including the main city Guwahati, had been traced to the three men.

Thursday's coordinated bomb attacks were the worst in India's turbulent northeast, home to more than 200 tribes and a focus of dozens of insurgencies connected with demands for autonomy or statehood.

A little-known Islamic group, Islamic Security Force-Indian Mujahideen, sent a mobile text message to a local TV station claiming responsibility for the bombings.

"We, ISF-IM, take responsibility of Thursday's blast. We warn all of Assam and India of situation like this in future," the text message said.

Police say the group may be seeking to avenge attacks on Muslim settlers by indigenous tribes that killed at least 47 people last month.

Security was tightened in Guwahati yesterday ahead of a visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to meet families of the victims and survivors.

A Hindu-nationalist group linked with India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party called a day-long shutdown across Assam on Saturday to protest the bombings.

The three men were detained in Nagaon district, about 125 kilometers east of Guwahati.

"Police are probing if they have any involvement in the serial blasts," said J. Balaji, Nagaon district's chief administrator.

Ethnic tensions have simmered for decades in Assam where over the years Muslim settlers, mostly from Bangladesh, have moved to the Hindu and tribal-dominated region.

Security officials said they were investigating if the ISF-IM group was the same as an Islamic militant organization formed in 2000 in Assam to avenge attacks by indigenous people.