The banned militant outfit United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) (Independent) on Thursday claimed to have planted bombs at 24 locations across Assam, triggering a massive search operation by security forces.
In an email sent to media houses, the anti-peace talk faction of ULFA asserted that the bombs failed to detonate due to "technical failure" and urged public cooperation in defusing the explosives.
While it provided details for 19 specific locations, the outfit said the locations of five more explosives could not be ascertained.
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The Assam Police swung into action, deploying bomb disposal squads, metal detectors, and sniffer dogs to all the locations identified in the email.
"Bomb disposal squads, metal detectors and sniffer dogs have been dispatched to every location. So far we have not got any information on recovery of bombs," a senior officer at Assam Police headquarters said.
Of the 24 locations named by ULFA(I), eight are in Guwahati, including an open field at Last Gate in Dispur, near the official residences of Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and other ministers.
{{/usCountry}}Of the 24 locations named by ULFA(I), eight are in Guwahati, including an open field at Last Gate in Dispur, near the official residences of Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and other ministers.
{{/usCountry}}Other areas mentioned in the email include Satgaon Road near the Army cantonment in Narengi, as well as Ashram Road, Panbazar, Jorabat, Bhetapara, Maligaon, and Rajgarh.
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While the police couldn't find any suspicious objects at six locations, they recovered two IED-like objects in Panbazaar and Gandhi Basti.
“We thoroughly searched eight locations. Out of these locations, we could not find any suspicious objects in six of them, however, in Panbazaar and Gandhi Basti, we found two IED-like objects,” Guwahati Commissioner of Police Diganta Barah told reporters.
Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur, Nagaon, Nalbari, Tamulpur, Tinsukia and Golaghat districts were also named by ULFA(I) in its list of 24 locations. Police have closed all roads in and around the places mentioned in the mail. Senior police officials have rushed to all the places and are monitoring the search operations.
With PTI inputs