CHENNAI, Aug 11: Two blasts rocked different parts of the city in the early hours on Monday injuring a police constable and a lorry cleaner. The Tamil Liberation Army (TLA) has admitted responsibility for the blasts.

The first explosion was reported from the Russian Cultural Centre library, in Alwarpet, at 3.45 am and the other blew up a car parked in front of the State Election Commission.

A police constable Rahim sleeping on the verandah at the Cultural Centre suffered injuries. The bomb seems to have been placed near an air conditioner which was completely damaged by the blast.A handwritten pamphlet of TLA was recovered from the spot owning responsibility for the incident.

They stated that the bombing was their reaction against the economic policies of the Centre were strangulating the public due to price rise.

No other damage was reported in the building. The library was still intact. Some glass panes on the first floor had developed cracks due to the impact.

The second blast occurred at 4.15 am in a Tata Sumo car parked in front of the State Election Commission (SEC) office at Vadapalani. An eyewitness said that the security man Mohan had gone to the toilet when he heard an explosion. He came out rushing and found that the car was in flames.

It appeared that the bomb was placed under the mudguard and above the tyre in the front. The engine of the car and the bonnet was completely mangled.

The glass panes on the first floor and the asbestos sheet on the verandah were also damaged.A lorry cleaner Veluchami (28) sleeping on the lorry parked next to the Sumo car was injured. The Sumo car belonged to a junior film artiste Perumal staying in the neighbouring building.

In the earlier incident at Russian centre, police sources said that the explosion was due to a pipe bomb thrown by the miscreants from Cathedral road.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.