ULFA trigger serial blasts; 1 dead, 15 injured

Guwahati, Mar 9: The ULFA triggered a series of blasts in Assam since yesterday afternoon, killing one and injuring 15 people, including three Army jawans, while two bombs were recovered before explosion.

Since late afternoon, the ultras exploded bombs in Guwahati, Tinsukia, and Duliajan and Dibrugarh, while two live bombs were recovered from near Mangaldoi and Tinuskia. The latest blast occurred at 2020 hrs at Dibrugarh where one Sanjay Mahato died, while six other, were injured. Just before at Tipling, three Army jawans were injured when the ULFA threw a hand grenade on an Army patrol post, police confirmed.

Meanwhile, two people were injured in separate blasts in Guwahati and Tinsukia, while two other bombs were recovered from busy market areas in Assam.

In the blast at Fancy Bazaar area in the heart of Guwahati at about 1330 hrs, two people were injured. The bomb, a low intensity IED, was kept near a dustbin.

Police suspected it to be the handiwork of miscreants as the crude explosives were used, though they had not ruled out the insurgency angle, police said.

In another blast in Tinsukia town of eastern Assam, at least four people were hurt. The blast went off in front of a stationary store.

The bomb was planted on a bicycle.

A bomb was recovered from Tinsukia hours after the blast there.

Another bomb was recovered from Dhula market area in Darrang district.

The bomb, weighing about five kg, was kept in a bag on a bicycle.

A police patrol party spotted the bomb, which was later defused.

UNI