Six out of the eight sites in Guwahati where the proscribed outfit United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) allegedly planted explosives have been marked safe by the police. Guwahati Commissioner of Police Diganta Barah said on Thursday that search teams found suspicious items in the remaining two places - Pan Bazar and Gandhibasti.
This comes amid the 78th Independence Day celebrations as the police reported finding suspicious articles at two places in Guwahati. Similar articles have also been recovered at Lakhimpur, Sivasagar, Nalbari and Nagaon which have been disposed of safely.
Questioned by reporters, Diganta Barah said, "This morning, ULFA-I, through media, shared eight locations in Guwahati where they said that explosives were planted. We have searched all the locations very thoroughly."
"Out of the eight sites that our teams inspected, we did not find anything at six of them. The other two places - under a pan shop on the road beside Hotel Prag Continental in Pan Bazar and near a black BSNL switch box on the road leading to Gandhi Mandap in Gandhibasti - we have found suspicious objects," the Police Commissioner stated.
The city police have deployed bomb squads at the two locations where the suspicious items were recovered. With due caution, the packages were opened, Barah told reporters.
He said, "We have to exercise caution since they [ULFA-I] issued a bomb threat. Both the objects that were recovered were opened very carefully by the bomb disposal squads. We found circuits usually seen in explosives, however, there was no triggering or detonating mechanism. We also found suspected explosive materials in containers."
The suspected materials have been sent for chemical examination to determine whether they are explosive or not, Diganta Barah further said.
Notably, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma earlier said, "Whether the recovered items are explosives or not, the police will confirm it. However, this [bomb blasts] is not something we want, especially as the Tata semiconductor plant is coming up."
"Normalcy has just returned to Assam. Investments are flowing in and industrialists are looking at the state as an opportunity now. Efforts are being made to bring employment to the unemployed in Assam instead of outside the state. Hence, such activities in this time is not acceptable," he added, questioning the timing.
Meanwhile, Assam Director General of Police (DGP) Gyanendra Pratap Singh said earlier that the police are carrying out extensive search operations and "suspicious articles" have been recovered in Guwahati and at other parts of the state.
Singh informed that the bomb disposal squad opened two such articles found in Guwahati at different places. "These articles do not have ignition device inside through some circuits and batteries are seen. The substance inside is being sent for forensic/chemical examination. (sic)," he said.
