From Our Correspondent
Guwahati: Suspected militants belonging to proscribed United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), anti-talks faction, triggered two powerful blasts in Upper Assam areas late Thursday night on the eve of the 12-hour bandh called by the outfit on Friday in protest against the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s visit to the city.
Police informed that one of the blasts occurred on the railway track between Bhoju and Longpotia stations in Sivasagar district that forced railway authorities to control Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express at Tinsukia station.
Another blast was detonated by suspected ULFA militants at a power station at Kolakhowa near Jorhat city in Upper Assam.
No one was injured because of the blasts though a pilot engine of the railway had a close shave on the blast on the railway track.
Meanwhile, a powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was recovered on railway tracks at Bijni in Chirang district
A police source informed that an IED weighing more than three kgs, two detonators and some fused wire were recovered at Maneswari, at a distance of about one kilometre from Bijni railway station during routine patrolling by a joint team of the police and Army personnel. The device was later defused.
Train services were temporarily suspended in the railway section as security personnel launched a massive combing operation on the railway tracks in the area apprehending presence of more such devices.