December 27, 2002	Friday	Shawwal 22, 1423

KOLKATA, Dec 26: Seventeen people were injured on Wednesday in separate bombing incidents in two major cities of eastern India, police said.

Seven people were injured when men disguised as worshippers threw bombs at a midnight Christmas service in Kolkata after robbing the priest, police said.

At least 10 people were injured when suspected militants lobbed grenades and fired indiscriminately at two places in Guwahati, capital of Assam.

Up to 20 assailants dressed in white to blend in with more than 100 faithful packed into the Catholic church in Maliapota, some 45kms northeast of Kolkata.

The attackers stormed up to the head priest and forced him at knifepoint to take them to his chambers. After robbing some of the worshippers, the men fled the church and threw a number of bombs.

The thieves made off with money from the church’s vault and some of the worshippers’ cash and gold jewellery.—AFP