New Delhi - At least four people were killed and 17 injured when a powerful blast ripped through a busy market in India's north- eastern state of Assam on Thursday, news reports said. The blast took place in the market near an army cantonment in Misamari town in the Sonitpur district 220 kilometres north-east of state capital Guwahati, the IANS news agency reported quoting police.
Assam Police blamed the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) for the attack.
"The market was teeming with people when the bomb went off, leading to utter panic and chaos in the area," district police chief Jitmol Doley told IANS.
Police said that the death toll could go up as six of the wounded who were moved to a local hospital were in serious condition.
The NDFB is a rebel group fighting for a separate homeland for the Bodo people in Assam since 1996.
"We strongly suspect the hand of NDFB in the blast as the area is a stronghold of the outfit and there were reports of militants serving extortion notices to the local people during the past few days," an intelligence official told the news agency.
The NDFB is also blamed for multiple bombings in the state in October 2008 which killed about 100 people and wounded more than 400.
India's north-east, which shares borders with China, Myanmar and Bangladesh, is a volatile region where nearly 40 separatist, tribal or leftist armed groups are active in five states.
More than 15,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in the region in the past decade.
