By IANS,
Guwahati : Security forces seized a huge haul of arms and explosives, including 45 kg of RDX, from separate raids in Assam Friday as an alert was sounded across the state ahead of Independence Day.
A police spokesperson said security forces stumbled upon a large cache of weapons and explosives in eastern Assam’s Sadiya town, about 600 km east of the state’s main city Guwahati.
“About 45 kg of RDX, 10 detonators, besides pistols and fuse wires, were recovered in an early morning raid,” a senior police official said.
Police suspect the explosives were being stocked by militants of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) to carry out strikes in the area.
In another raid Thursday, police recovered five bombs from a house on the outskirts of Guwahati.
“There are definite reports of militants desperately trying to stage violent attacks ahead of Independence Day and we believe these explosives were part of their plan to attack here,” the official said.
Meanwhile, a massive security alert was sounded across Assam with police, paramilitary, and army soldiers deployed in vulnerable areas like oil installations, road and rail bridges, besides crowded marketplaces.
The intelligence reports come at a time when five separatist guerrilla groups in the northeast called a 17-hour general strike to boycott Independence Day.
The militant groups that called for a boycott of the Independence Day celebrations include the outlawed ULFA, the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), the Kamatapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), fighting for a separate homeland comprising parts of Assam and West Bengal, the Manipur People’s Liberation Front (MPLF), an umbrella group of several Manipuri rebel groups, and the Tripura People’s Democratic Front (TPDF).
These groups are active in Assam, Manipur and Tripura.
As part of the boycott call Aug 15, the militant groups have called for a general strike from 1 a.m. to 6.30 p.m.
Militant groups in the northeast have for years boycotted national events to protest New Delhi’s rule over the region.