I-Day celebrations peaceful except in Tripura, Assam

Barring an ambush by militants which have left a security man dead in Tripura and bomb blasts in Assam, celebrations of 60th anniversary of Independence passed off peacefully across the country.

Barring an ambush by militants which left a securityman dead in Tripura and bomb blasts in Assam, celebrations of 60th anniversary of Independence passed off peacefully today amidst tight security across the country and unveiling of welfare schemes by leaders for the people.

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Militant group National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) fired on a CRPF patrol at Prasannamanipara, a tribal hamlet in Tripura's Dhalai district seriously wounding constable Chamenjit Yadav (37) who succumbed to injuries on way to hospital.

Four insurgent outfits of North-East, including proscribed All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF), called for boycott of Independence Day celebrations.

ULFA triggered four bomb blasts close to venues of I-Day functions in Dhubri and Bongaigaon districts of Assam leaving two wounded as leaders appealed to rebles to abjure violence and join the mainstream.

A huge cache of arms and explosives were recovered from an ULFA camp inside a forest in Sibsagar district hours before the celebrations began in the state where boycott calls by insurgents failed to evoke any response.

At least a dozen schools located in Maoist infested remote areas in Orissa's Malkangiri district were forced to put off Independence day celebrations while naxalites made an abortive bid to disrupt the function at a school in Jharkhand's East Singhbhum by hoisting black flag and planting a landmine.

In strife-torn Jammu and Kashmir, the Independence day passed off without violence for the second successive year amidst tight security.