Assam: Bombs planted at 24 locations did not explode due to ‘technical error’, claims ULFA-I

Banned militant group United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent, or ULFA-I, on Thursday claimed that it had planted bombs in at least 24 locations in Assam to “register an armed protest” during the Independence Day celebrations.

The bombs were supposed to explode between 6 am and 12 pm on Thursday, the organisation claimed in a statement. However, they did not explode due to a “technical error”.

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ULFA-I said it was releasing the list of places where the explosives had been planted, along with the photos of the locations, to ensure that they did not pose a threat to the public.

The locations included Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Tinsukia, Nagaon, Lakhimpur, Nalbari, Rangiya and Golaghat districts and Guwahati’s Dispur area where the state secretariat is located.

The group sought the removal and diffusion of the explosives based on the location details provided.

It said that the exact location of the bombs planted at three places in the Tinsukia district, including Panitola, one place in Dibrugarh and one place each in Golaghat and Sorupathar could not be confirmed.

#WATCH | Police recovered a suspected object at Gandhi Mandap area in Guwahati, Assam. More details awaited. pic.twitter.com/FSTB2LhnAb

— ANI (@ANI) August 15, 2024

Gyanendra Pratap Singh, Assam’s director general of police, said that searches had been carried out across the state for explosive devices.

In Guwahati, suspicious articles were found at two places. The objects were opened by the bomb disposal squad.

“These articles do not have ignition device inside through (sic) some circuits and batteries are seen,” Singh said. “The substance inside is being sent for forensic/chemical examination.”

Singh said that similar articles found in Lakhimpur, Sivasagar, Nalbari and Nagaon were safely disposed of.

An investigation has been initiated into the matter, he said.

On August 10, the state police said that a unit of United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent active along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh interstate border was planning an attack in the region before Independence Day.

“Security measures have been tightened in many areas,” NDTV had quoted Singh as saying. “We are looking into all aspects.”

In 2004, a bomb blast during an Independence Day parade at a school ground in Assam’s Dhemaji had killed 18 persons.

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