India blasts death toll rises to 14

Shops and businesses shut down today to protest against two powerful blasts in India’s north-east which killed at least 14 people and wounded another 45.

Six people died overnight and 20 of the injured were in critical condition, said Deepak Narayan Dutt, Assam state director-general of police.

The first explosion occurred in a crowded market place in Gauhati, the capital of Assam state, last night and the second in another residential district of the city half an hour later.

Local residents closed shops and businesses for the day in the affected districts in response to a strike call by the Chamber of Commerce, an organisation of local traders.

No one claimed responsibility for the killings. However, Assam state’s top elected official Tarun Gogoi blamed the United Liberation Front of Asom rebels for the attacks.

The ULFA has been fighting for more than two decades for Assam’s separation from India. The insurgency has claimed more than 10,000 lives.