Army doc from AP dies in Assam blast

Hyderabad, July 14: A Colonel from Andhra Pradesh was among two armymen killed in a powerful blast on the Assam-Arunachal border on Monday. Col. S Madhav Perumal, a native of Tirupati, was on his way to Tenga in Arunachal Pradesh from the Army’s 4 Corps Headquarters in Tezpur, Assam, when militants suspected to be from the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) struck. The Colonel and his driver Naik Aswini Kumar were going in a Maruti Gypsy when the militants triggered an improvised explosive device in an area called the 11th Mile near Bhalukpung in Sonitpur district in Assam around 5.10 a.m. The impact of the blast was such that the vehicle was blown 20 ft above the ground. Both died on the spot. An escort vehicle with five personnel following behind survived the blast. Police swung into action immediately and detained four suspects.

Col. Perumal is survived by his wife Geetha, son Jayanth and daughter Rashmi.

He was a graduate of Sri Venkateswara Ramnarayan Ruia Medical College, Tirupati.

According to his family members, he graduated in 1984 and joined the Army Medical Corps the same year. Subsequently, he was posted at the military hospital at Tirumalgherry, Secunderabad.

His son Jayanth is a student of the Army Dental College in Hyderabad while Rashmi is studying law at a city college. They have been living in Secunderabad for the past 15 years.

‘‘Col. Perumal, a doctor, was the Commanding Officer of the Army’s 405 Field Ambulance based at Tenga.

It was only on Sunday that he had returned from Bangalore after attending an official conference,’’ a defence spokesman said.

A dog squad of the Army patrols the 50-km Bhalukpung- Tezpur route every morning but as the blast on Monday occurred too early in the morning, the bomb could not be detected. ‘‘We suspect that the blast was triggered by NDFB. The bomb was an improvised explosive device and it weighed around 10 kg,’’ Deputy Commissioner of Sonitpur, Rajendra Prasad, said.

–Agencies–