Police blames IOC for lax security

Senior railway officials informed this morning that railway services at Thekeraguri had resumed. Services had been suspended yesterday.

Vehicular traffic on National Highway 31 has also resumed since morning but is being diverted through Morigaon. Senior police officials of Nagaon said some kind of projectile might have been used to hit the tanks. They suspect the use of Rocket Propelled Guns (RPG).

Meanwhile, the villagers, who had moved to safer places last night, returned to their homes today.

Incidentally, only six unarmed ex-servicemen had been posted at the plant.

According to sources, the last meeting of the coordination committee of IOC had discussed thevulnerability of security at the depot.

“It was literally a sitting duck with handful of unarmed ex-servicemen. There were not even Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) people in the plant located in one of the two most trouble-prone districts of the State,” a police official said.

“With both the railway line and National Highway 31 running parallel to the plant it was waiting to happen,” he added, indirectly putting the blame on the IOC for laxity in the security.

However, with the ULFA threatening to strike again, the State Government is not taking any chance. The Army and the Black Panthers of the State police are out on the streets.

Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta also returned from New Delhi today and reviewed the latest law and order situation with his senior officials.