Plan to blow up two ONGC's wells foiled in Asom

Guwahati, Jun 11 (UNI) A major disaster was avoided when securitymen detected two powerful bombs planted in two different ONGC wells near Sibsagar in Asom today, official sources said.

Police said following tip off by the locals, they summoned the bomb squad, who immediately defused the bombs. One was programmed at 1600 hours and the other programmed to explode at 2200 hours.

Earlier in the day there was a blast at a railway track near Sonari.

Elsewhere, the Kamrup Express had a miraculous escape when a powerful remote control bomb went off minutes after the passenger train crossed between Barahat and Sapekhati sections. The explosion took place at 0535 hours, just eight minutes after the Tinsukia bound Kamrup express crossed the sections, Northeast Frontier Railway sources confirmed.

At least one meter of track was blown off under the impact of blast, enough to cause a major derailment, they added. The blast forced the NFR to suspend traffic for almost ten hours. Traffic resumed at 1500 hours.

The emergency workers, during restoration, found long wires from the spot indicating remote control devices were used during blasting.

Meanwhile, panic-stricken people of Asom have largely stayed indoors taking advantage of holiday as the ULFA triggered a series of 19 blasts in past 72 hours.

So far seven people have been killed and about 35 injured in the violence which also left a trail of destruction particularly in upper Asom where oil installations and vital bridges were targeted by the militants.

The ULFA has claimed the responsibility of most of the attacks barring those where civilian people were killed. ''This is their old practice. There is nothing to be surprised of,'' said a senior officer of Asom police, attributing all the attacks to the ULFA.

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