Assam – 15 arrested for allegedly planting IEDs during Independence Day celebrations

Guwahati. A total of 15 people, including three women, have been arrested from across Assam in connection with Ulfa-I planting IED-like devices at 24 locations to trigger serial blasts on Independence Day, police said.

The arrests were made during coordinated raids by Assam Police with the technical support of NIA on Saturday night.

Assam Police CPRO Pranabjyoti Goswami in a statement said three persons each were apprehended in Dibrugarh and Lakhimpur district, while two each in Jorhat and Guwahati and one each in Tinsukia, Sadiya, Nagaon, Nalbari and Tamulpur.

Emphasising the significance of the arrests as a key development in the investigation, Goswami said they followed extensive intelligence gathering in collaboration with the NIA.

“Incriminating facts have been untethered after preliminary interrogation of the apprehended persons and more information about the conspiracy is expected to be known after prolonged interrogation in due course of time,” he said.

Goswami said three persons each were arrested from Dibrugarh and Lakhimpur districts, two each from Jorhat and Guwahati, and one each from Tinsukia, Sadiya, Nagaon, Nalbari and Tamulpur.

Earlier, four individuals were detained in Sivasagar district in connection with the case. Assam Police had also announced a cash reward of up to Rs 5 lakh for credible information leading to the identification of individuals involved in the manufacturing, transportation and planting of IED-like devices in various parts of the state.

A total of 10 cases were registered in the districts where these devices were found. DGP GP Singh had later said two of the 10 cases were transferred to NIA for investigation.

Police had set up multiple SITs in the 10 districts after Ulfa-I had claimed responsibility for placing “explosives” at 24 locations to cause serial blasts on August 15.