Ultras blast transformer in Assam

GUWAHATI, AUG 12: Four hardcore ULFA militants were shot dead while suspected Bodo ultras bombed a high tension power line in Assam early ...

GUWAHATI, AUG 12: Four hardcore ULFA militants were shot dead while suspected Bodo ultras bombed a high tension power line in Assam early on Saturday, according to the police.

The ultras were killed in an exchange of fire with the army during a raid on a hotel in upper Assam’s Tinsukia town. One pistol and a grenade were recovered from the spot.

The police suspected that the ULFA militants were planning subversive activities in the run up to the Independence Day celebration. Three of the militants were identified as Hemanta Mech, Gohin Rajkonwar and Apurba Gogoi alias P D Gogoi. The other was yet to be identified, the sources said.

Story continues below this ad

Earlier, a bomb explosion damaged a transformer and four posts of the Salakati-Rangiya section of the 132 KV high tension power line belonging to Assam State Electricity Board near Madhupur in Kamrup district.

The explosion was suspected to have been triggered by the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) militants. Police and army picked up nearly 30 people for interrogation in connection with the blast.

Security has been beefed up in the entire state in view of the ultras threat to disrupt Independence Day celebration. Police pickets have been posted in vulnerable areas and vehicles were being searched as a precautionary measure.

Several militant outfits including the ULFA and the NDFB have given a call to boycott Independence Day celebrations.