By IANS,
Guwahati : Indian soldiers soldiers Friday claimed to have foiled a major terror strike in Assam’s main city of Guwahati by killing seven Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) terrorists during a gunbattle, officials said.
The fierce firefight took place before dawn near Basbari village in Dhubri district, about 270 km west of Assam’s main city Guwahati.
“The seven Huji terrorist were killed in an operation that was based on specific intelligence,” a defence statement said.
The statement said the HuJI terrorists from Bangladesh were on their way to Guwahati through Dhubri.
“They (the seven terrorists killed) were to meet with another group of HuJI which is already stationed in Guwahati planning for several blasts. This information was collected by mobile interceptors,” the statement added.
Army soldiers recovered seven automatic pistols, three radio sets, a large quantity of explosives, mainly gelatin and detonators, besides Bangladeshi, Indian, and Chinese currency notes from the dead terrorists.
“Capt Kuldeep Singh of 21 Jat Regiment who led the operation received two bullets, but survived as he was wearing bullet proof jacket,” the statement said.
HuJI is a Pakistan-based terrorist group with an affiliate in Bangladesh.
Dhubri district borders Bangladesh and militants are known to enter India from the adjoining country, taking advantage of the unfenced border and poorly patrolled rivers that form the border in many places.
“A major disaster was averted with the killing of the seven terrorists and now efforts were on to zero in on some HuJI operatives holed up in Guwahati,” an army commander said requesting not to be named.