Meghalaya put on high alert, BSF seals Indo-Bangla border

Shillong, Oct 30 (UNI) Meghalaya police has sounded a ''high alert'' following a series of bomb blasts in several districts of Assam this morning.

Police said the Border Security Forces (BSF) had sealed the porous international Indo-Bangla border and its men guarding the border in the region were put on extra-alert to prevent human movement through the border.

Eleven serial blasts, including four in Guwahati, rocked several districts of Assam today, killing at least seven persons and injuring over 50 others.

''All the police stations, especially on the inter-state border, with Assam, have been directed to keep extra vigil,'' Inspector General of Police (Special Branch) S B Singh told UNI here.

Mr Singh said extra precautionary measures had been put in place after fear that those involved in the serial bomb blasts might escape to Meghalaya.

''We have set up barricades along the National Highways, connecting Guwahati and Meghalaya, and our police are searching vehicles in the hunt for the bombers,'' the Meghalaya police official said.

Chief Minister Dr Donkupar Roy condemned the serial blasts and said, ''Terrorism would be fought tooth and nail.'' Inspector General of BSF, in-charge of the Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur and Nagaland Frontier, P K Mishra said the frontier guards along the Indo-Bangla border had been instructed to be extra vigilant to thwart any attempt of infiltration.

Meghalaya's Garo Hills and West Khasi Hills, which shares borders with Assam and neighbouring Bangladesh, has been frequently used in the past by terrorists to sneak into the country and carry out subversive activities.

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