Assam cops recover IEDs day before PM’s visit
Modi scheduled to visit Assam’s Kokrajhar town today
In what is said to be a desperate attempt on the part of the outlawed ULFA (I) to make its presence felt, the Assam police Thursday recovered two low-intensity improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from one of the most crowded localities of the capital city areas of Assam.
The recovery of the IEDs a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Kokrajhar on Friday caused panic in security circles. However, security agencies ruled out any connection of the IEDs to the PM’s impending visit.
Informing that the IEDs were recovered from the Pan Bazar and Paltan Bazar areas in Guwahati on the basis of the confessional statement of an ULFA (I) cadre who was arrested by the police in Upper Assam’s Tinsukia district, security sources
said that the ULFA (I) cadre claimed to have been assigned the task of planting six IEDs.
Pointing out that four IEDs were planted in Upper Assam which went off on January 26, security sources said that two IEDs were planted in Guwahati on February 1 but failed to go off.
Pointing out that the IEDs were kept in plastic containers, security
sources said that the bomb disposal squad had taken them to the Panikhaiti area where they would be disposed of.
Confirming the report, Guwahati police commissioner Munna Prasad Gupta said that two IEDs had been recovered and a bomb disposal team had been called to defuse them. Investigation was underway.
A top police official also said that the IEDs were packed in bags. "We had prior information regarding the planting of the IEDs and based on that input, we carried out the search operation and recovered the IEDs," said a senior police officer who suspected the involvement of ULFA (I) cadres.
The bombs were planted in the Pan Bazar and Paltan Bazar areas known to be the commercial hubs of Guwahati. The PM is scheduled to visit Kokrajhar town in Assam on February 7 to participate in the celebrations organised to mark the signing of the Bodo Peace Accord.
Earlier on Wednesday, the police recovered five purportedly hand-made bombs from a place in Chhaigaon under the Kamrup (rural) district. The bombs were later defused at Kukurmara area in Chhaigaon. Meanwhile security has been further strengthened all over the state ahead of the PM’s visit.