4 blasts rock Assam; no casualties, injuries
The bomb blasts failed to dampen the mood of the people who came out in large number on the street of Guwahati to celebrate Republic Day.
Guwahati: In quick succession, four low-intensity blasts rocked upper Assam on Sunday when the entire nation was observing 71st Republic Day. In what was suspected to be the handiwork of the outlawed Ulfa-I, security sources said that most of the blasts took place in one of the most isolated and unguarded areas so there was no damage to property or human lives.
G.P. Singh, additional director general of police (law and order), said, “We had reports of five incidents but at one spot there was no sign of any blast. We are able to confirm four blasts — two in Dibrugarh and one each in Duliajan and Sonari.”
Saying that they could not confirm the blast reported in Doomdooma, he said, “All these are suspected low intensity improvised explosive device (IED) blasts. There was no damage to property and no human injury or casualty. The first blast was reported at 8:10 am and the last one around 8:25 am,” he added.
Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal told reporters, “We stronglycondemn the bomb blasts. This cowardly attempt to create terror on a sacred day only exhibits the frustration of the terror groups after their total rejection by the people. Our government will take the sternest action to bring the culprits to book.”
The outlawed Ulfa-I had issued a call for a “general strike” on Sunday, asking citizens to abstain from Republic Day celebrations in the state and remain indoors.
The bomb blasts failed to dampen the mood of the people who came out in large number on the street of Guwahati to celebrate Republic Day. Several motorbike and vintage car rallies gave a festive look to the capital city where Assam Governor Prof. Jagdish Mukhi unfurled the national flag at Khanapar playground. Defying the boycott call of outlawed Ulfa-I, a large number of people attended the official Republic Day function.
The blasts took place days after 644 militants from eight rebel outfits laid down their arms in front of Mr Sonowal at a ceremony in Guwahati. It included 50 Ulfa-I cadres.