8 blasts rock Assam, Manipur on R-Day

IT IS SUSPECTED THAT IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICES WERE USED IN SOME OF THE BLASTS IN DIBRUGARH, CHARAIDEO AND EAST AND WEST DISTRICTS OF IMPHAL

To protest Republic Day celebrations, insurgents in north-east carried out eight lowintensity blasts in Assam and Manipur on Thursday morning.

The blasts took place one after another in different locations of Charaideo, Dibrugarh and Sadiya districts in upper Assam. Two blasts also took place in Imphal East and Imphal West districts of Manipur. It is suspected that Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were used in some of the blasts.

“Six low intensity blasts took place in Upper Assam. All incidents happened at places where there were no people. Republic Day celebrations were not affected,” Assam director general of police Mukesh Sahay told HT. He said the banned United Liberation Front of Assam-Independent (ULFA-I) could be responsible for the blasts.

“There was one low intensity blast inside a tea estate at a place called Convoy Road. It occurred around 8:45 am at an isolated spot and no one was injured,” Dibrugarh police chief Gautam Borah said.

Prior to the blasts, ULFA-I chief Paresh Baruah had called television news channels and warned of carrying out attacks as a mark of protest against Republic Day celebrations.

Baruah, who is suspected to be hiding in Myanmar, had appealed to the public not to attend the celebrations and stay away from public places.

“People of Assam favour peace and we thank them for making the Republic Day celebrations successful. Security forces will continue to fight determinedly against terror tactics,” Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal said.

The blasts come four days after ULFA-I and other insurgent outfits of the region had attacked an Assam Rifles convoy and killed two jawans in Tinsukia district.