Brahmaputra Mail train bombing

On 30 December 1996, a bomb exploded beside the railway track between Kokrajhar and Fakiragram stations in Western Assam, Eastern India, as the Brahmaputra Mail passenger service to New Delhi passed at high speed. The explosion wrecked three carriages and derailed six more. Official reports state that at least 33 people were killed in the attack.

The composition of the bomb was not established. Available information indicates it is likely the device was detonated by a remote-controlled mechanism and timed to inflict maximum damage as the train passed the location at speed. The device had been placed next to the track rather than on it, and the attack occurred in a remote stretch of the rail line in Western Assam.

The official casualty figure of 33 has been a point of controversy. Because the blast occurred in a remote region, and because of what has been described as government reluctance to draw attention to the scale of the attack, some commentators have questioned whether the official toll accurately reflects the true number of fatalities. Some have suggested that the actual death toll could be as high as 100, though this higher figure has not been officially confirmed.

The Indian government attributed responsibility for the bombing to a local separatist organisation, identified as the Bodo Security Force. No group is recorded as having claimed responsibility for the attack.

The 1996 bombing was the first major incident to affect the Brahmaputra Mail service. A second major incident involving the same train service occurred approximately three years later, in the Gaisal train disaster.