High Alert in Assam Following Bomb Explosions

Guwahati, Jul 16 : A railway bridge was damaged in a powerful blast in Udalguri district and an IED planted at Fancy Bazar area here exploded while being defused leading to high alert being sounded across Assam Friday.

No one was injured in either of the blasts, officials said.

The bomb planted under the railway bridge over a river at Dhansiri between Rowta and Mazbat railway stations went off at 9 am damaging the bridge and the tracks, they said.

Train movement over the bridge came to a halt after the blast which is suspected to have been triggered by the anti-talk Daimary faction of the NDFB, they said.

Last night in Guwahati, a powerful improvised explosive device hidden in a bag near the Shani Mandir in Fancy Bazar exploded as it was being defused by the bomb disposal squad.

Following the explosion in Guwahati, a joint CRPF and police team arrested three Manipur's Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) cadres from Chandmari area.

During interrogation, self-styled captain Benjamin and the other two revealed that at the instruction of the NDFB's anti-talk faction, they had smuggled in four bombs, one of which exploded at the Fancy Bazar.

The security forces were searching for the three other bombs and the people urged to to report suspicious looking objects to the police immediately.

Rs 1 lakh in Indian and US currency, a laptop, several CDs and documents were seized from the three militants.

All police stations have been put on maximum alert and additional security forces mobilised in vulnerable areas, police officials said.

Meanwhile, army and Assam Rifles halted traffic between Tezpur and Dhekiajuli for three hours during the day on the National Highway-52 in Sonitpur district stating that a bomb was planted under Dipota bridge.

The security forces allowed vehicles to move after 7.30 am following defusal of the bomb.

People in the area, however, claimed they had neither seen a bomb nor its being defused.