ULFA(I) says planted 24 ‘bombs’ that didn’t go off, seeks public help to defuse them; Assam police find 8

It sent a list of 19 locations across the state, where it said the bombs were planted, and said the locations of the remaining five could not be ascertained.

This triggered search operations by police, resulting in the recovery of eight objects. These, however, did not have “ignition” or “triggering” mechanisms, police said.

Two of these objects were recovered from Guwahati and the rest from Lakhimpur, Sivasagar, Nalbari, and Nagaon.

Guwahati Commissioner of Police Diganta Barah confirmed that two of these objects were found in Guwahati city – one under a pan shop in Guwahati’s Pan Bazar locality and another inside a BSNL switchboard in the Gandhi Mandap locality.

“Through the media, the ULFA(I) said that bombs were planted in eight locations in Guwahati. Our teams conducted searches in all eight locations, but did not find anything that was suspicious or similar to IEDs and bombs in six locations. In two locations, we found objects – Pan Bazar and Gandhi Mandap,” Barah said.

“Because we should exercise a lot of caution, a bomb disposal team examined both the objects. Our sniffer dog was also brought in and the objects were opened carefully. It was seen that there were circuits in them, but the triggering mechanism was not there. Some explosive-like substance was in a container inside both the bombs, but we can ascertain if it is explosive only after chemical examination by an expert,” he told reporters.

Assam DGP G P Singh said the substance inside the “bombs” was sent for forensic examination, and the objects found in the remaining parts of the state have been “safely disposed”.

ULFA is widely believed to have been behind a bomb attack on Independence Day in 2004 – an explosion at a playground in Assam’s Dhemaji, where an Independence Day programme was being held. A total of 13 people, including 10 children, were killed in the attack.

In August last year, the Gauhati High Court acquitted five of the six accused. The five had been accused of being members of the banned group and hatching a conspiracy to plant the bomb. The High Court said the prosecution had not been able to prove the charges against them beyond all reasonable doubt.

The pro-talks faction of ULFA had on December 29 2023 signed a tripartite peace pact with the Union and state governments. However, the ULFA(I) faction, led by Paresh Baruah, continues to resist talks without discussing sovereignty for Assam.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday appealed to Paresh Baruah not to create conditions that would make investors wary of the state.

“TATA has brought the semiconductor industry to Assam, and many more investments will come to the state. After many years, Assam is seeing the face of progress and development… I request Paresh Baruah that for whatever reason, we should not create such a situation in Assam that it becomes unsuitable for investments,” the CM said.

“There are nearly 14 lakh unemployed youths here. If industry does not come here, our youths will go to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh to work as security guards. If Assam’s youths don’t stay in Assam, with whom are we going to make Assam developed or independent? I hope that there will not be any cause of concern for investors in Assam and I am always eager for dialogue and discussion,” Sarma said.