THE HEIR to one of Britain's most famous aristocratic families was in hospital in India last night after narrowly surviving a bomb which killed 17 people. Two separatist groups have claimed joint responsibility for the blast.
Mr Ceawlin Thynn, otherwise known as Viscount Weymouth (21), is the only son of the Marquess of Bath, with a family fortune estimated at £150 million. Both his companions in New Delhi were killed.
The bomb came days before general elections, which start on April 27th. Federal Intelligence Bureau officials have stepped up security in New Delhi and other northern cities as a result.
Harkat-ul Moineen, a Muslim fundamentalist group fighting for an Islamic Kashmir state in northern India and the Khalistan Liberation Front, one of the few groups left over from the 12 year rebellion by Sikh separatists in neighbouring Punjab state, have jointly claimed responsibility for the bombing.
Police said two Britons, a French couple, three Nigerians and two unidentified westerners died after a bomb ripped through Arjun Guest House in the Paharganj district late on Saturday. It is one of many crowded, cheap hotels frequented by back packing tourists in the capital.
A statement distributed to Kashmiri newspapers said the bombing was the first gift" to the Indian government for its decision to hold parliamentary elections in the state next month six years after armed Muslim separatists began their war for independence in which around 13,000 people have died.
Kashmiri separatists are opposed to elections in the state claiming they would legitimise India's hold over the disputed principality, which is also claimed by neighbouring Pakistan.
The bombing was the fifth in New Delhi since last September. But this was the first time Kashmiri and Sikh militants had jointly claimed responsibility. Federal intelligence officials said both groups had links with separatist groups operating out of neighbouring Pakistan.
Reuter adds. A public row between the president, Mr Shankar Dayal Sharma, and the Prime Minister, Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao, over corruption charges against a former minister threatened to overshadow a quiet election campaign yesterday.
Ms Sheila Kaul, governor of the northern state of Himachal Pradesh resigned yesterday, a day after Mr Sharma publicly urged the prime minister to dismiss her. Ms Kaul, a former housing minister in Rao's cabinet, has been named by the Central Bureau of Investigation in a scandal over the allocation of government houses.
