ULFA, ISI responsible for Agartala serial blasts

Agartala, Oct 17: The Crime Investigation Department(CID) of Tripura Police has ascertained the involvement of ULFA and ISI in training and motivating the proscribed militant outfit ATTF for engineering the October one serial blasts here.

Director General of Tripura Police Pranay Sahay told newspersons today that the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) was responsible for the serial blasts, adding the logistic support was provided by the ULFA having expertise in executing high-power explosions.

On the other hand, the ISI imparted training in the Bangladesh territory to carry out the serial blasts, he added.

''Two senior cadres of ULFA had visited the ATTF hideout at Satcherri in Bangladesh and imparted training by hiring an ISI expert on how to handle high power explosive like IED and Ammonium Nitrate and Fuel Oil,'' Mr Sahaya said.

The investigations revealed that explosives were brought into Agartala from the ATTF camp at Satcherri in the last week of September on three different occasions and they had been assembled in a rented house at Bhati Abhaynagar here before planting in five populated areas.

Mr Sahaya made it clear other than the ISI, no evidence of any Jihadi groups or international terrorist's involvement had so far been found behind the serial blasts.

It was also revealed that the ISI activists were involved in providing guerrilla training and motivating the north-eastern militants including ATTF in Bangladesh soil.

Referring to the security measures following the incident, Mr Sahaya stated that they had already informed the confessional statements of the arrested ATTF cadres to Assam police and sought inputs on the style of ULFA's operation.

'' Investigation process will be expedited after obtaining information from the police in Assam and we are sharing intelligence inputs on insurgency among north-eastern states, '' Mr Sahaya said.

He elaborated that there was, however, a significant difference in the mechanics of detonation in blasts which were triggered in Delhi and other parts of the country including Agartala.

He said, '' We are yet to receive a full report but the National Security Guard (NSG) experts, who conducted the chemical tests on the materials, have pointed out the anomalies. However, the unexploded bomb recovered from a drain near Radhamadav temple was a little different since there was no fuel oil in it.'' Altogether 17 people had been arrested in connection with the blasts and two of them, including the Imam of Nagicherra mosque, had been granted bail, he added.

There were six hardcore Tiger Force rebels of their urban group behind the blasts and three of them Dinesh, Bikash and Sachindra, had been arrested.

''The police have now launched manhunt for Surjya, the blast mastermind, Satyaranjan, who rented the house in Abhaynagar, Karuna, a Tiger Force militant and Bapon Debbarma, who was recognised by one Sabita Das, owner of a laundry near G B Bazar, when he went to plant a bomb,'' Mr Sahaya said.

UNI