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Security alert in Assam after refinery blast
Police said militants, suspected to be from the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), on Friday attacked the fortified refinery gates in Assam's main city of Guwahati with explosives.
Security forces in Assam were put on high alert on Saturday, a day after separatist rebels triggered a powerful explosion at a state-owned petroleum refinery wounding 10 people, officials said.
"We have put our security forces on maximum alert to prevent further attacks, particularly in crowded places and at other vital installations which militants tend to target in the run-up to the Republic Day," a senior police official said requesting anonymity.
Police said militants, suspected to be from the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), on Friday attacked the fortified refinery gates in Assam's main city of Guwahati with explosives, leaving eight paramilitary troopers and two civilians wounded.
Hospital doctors said the condition of at least six of the injured is still serious.
Officials said there was no damage to the refinery belonging to the Indian Oil Corporation, a Fortune 500 company.
None of Assam's several guerrilla groups have so far claimed responsibility for the attack. "We believe the blast was carried out by ULFA rebels," the official said.
The guerrilla group along with five others called a 17-hour general strike from 1 am on January 26 to protest against India's annual Republic Day celebrations.
Militants in the seven insurgency-racked northeastern states have for years been boycotting national events to protest New Delhi's rule over the oil and timber-rich region.
The run-up to the events has always been violent, with rebels striking vital installations, including crude oil pipelines, trains and road and rail bridges, besides targeting federal soldiers.
On Thursday, police in Assam arrested three ULFA guerrillas with arms and ammunition from the state's main city of Guwahati who claimed they were part of a team sent by the rebel leadership to create violence during Republic Day celebrations.
Last year, rebels triggered two powerful blasts at the main Republic Day parade in Guwahati although no one died in the attacks.
"We are not taking any chances and are prepared to thwart all plans by the militants to sabotage Republic Day celebrations," said an army commander engaged in counter insurgency operations in Assam.
More than 30 rebel groups operate in the northeastern states, their demands ranging from secession to greater autonomy and the right to self-determination. More than 50,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in the northeast since India's independence in 1947.
