Strike paralyzes Indian state hit by blasts

A daylong general strike called by a students' group shut schools, shops and businesses across a northeastern Indian state on Monday to protest authorities' failure to stop bomb blasts that killed at least 81 people, officials said.

Police have arrested five people for questioning and are still trying to determine who was responsible for Thursday's coordinated bombings in Assam state, said Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, the area's inspector-general of police.

"We are not able to say anything because the investigation is in progress. We've got some leads, but we can't disclose them," Mahanta told The Associated Press.

The 11-hour strike called by the All Assam Students' Union paralyzed normal life in the state.

"We have called the shutdown to protest the state government's total failure in protecting the lives of citizens. We also condemn all forms of violence in the state," said Samujjal Bhattacharjee, an adviser to the students' union.

Police have said the state's largest separatist group, the United Liberation Front of Asom, may have been involved in the attacks and is the main focus of the investigation, but a ULFA spokesman has denied any role. The group has been fighting for the state's independence.

Mahanta said the complexity of the bombings suggested local rebels were "assisted by a force who has adequate expertise in such attacks." Indian media and analysts have blamed Islamic extremists for the 13 explosions which killed 81 people and injured another 300 people.

A little-known group, the Islamic Security Force (Indian Mujahadeen), sent a text message to a television station claiming responsibility for the attacks. It also thanked its partners and warned of future attacks.

The name of the group echoes that of the Indian Mujahideen, a group unknown until May when it said it was behind bombings in the western city of Jaipur that killed 61 people. It also claimed responsibility for blasts in the western state of Gujarat in July that killed at least 45, and blasts in New Delhi in September that killed 21.

India's restive northeast is an isolated region wedged between Bangladesh, Bhutan, China and Myanmar with only a thin corridor connecting it to the rest of India. Its residents are ethnically closer to Myanmar and China than India.