Two Persons Killed in Explosion in Assam, Police Suspect ULFA(I) Behind Attack

Guwahati: Two persons were killed in an explosion triggered by ULFA (I) militants at Demow town in Assam’s Sivasagar district Thursday evening. The grenade blast took place inside a hardware store at Nitai Path, about 100 meters from Demow Chariali at around 4:50pm.

The deceased have been identified as the owner of shop, Kamal Agarwal, who succumbed to his injuries at the Assam Medical College and Hospital, and Arup Gupta, the customer present at the hardware store when the blast took place.

“The blast was carried out by ULFA(I). In the past as well, the militants had targeted the victim’s family and had demanded extortion money. The police had even offered security, but they had refused,” said Pallab Bhattacharya, Assam Police director general (home guards and civil defence) and in charge of special branch.

Police sources added that the militants escaped to Nagaland after the attack. The Assam government on Friday announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of the families of the victims.

Earlier in the day, a joint operation by Sivasagar police and security forces was launched at Demow and neighboring areas based on specific information about the presence of a 5-member ULFA (I) group in the district. Sources say as many as three separate groups of the militant outfit are camping in Upper Assam districts at present.

Meanwhile, the NIA lodged a case on Thursday in connection with the Kherbari killings in Upper Assam’s Tinsukia district where five Bengali-speaking persons were shot down by ULFA(I) insurgents. A 7-member NIA team under DIG Deepak Kumar and NIA SP Sanjukta Parashar visited Tinsukia for investigation.

The militant outfit has stepped up its activities since the Tinsukia incident, and according to security sources, there’s a surge in recruitment of young boys and girls to ULFA(I), particularly in Upper Assam. Earlier this month, Munna Baruah, nephew of ULFA(I) commander-in-chief (C-in-C) Paresh Baruah and an apprentice with Digboi IOCL joined the outfit.

In October, Pankaj Pratim Dutta, who was serving as the Vice President of All Assam Students’ Union unit at Dergaon in Golaghat district took to social media to announce his decision of joining ULFA.