News Top Night

Police have detained 50 people following a grenade attack in the city’s Paltan Bazar area but police were yet to confirm the hand of any militant outfit, despite the ULFA claiming responsibility for the blast in which one man was killed.

The anti-talk faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) Sunday emailed a statement to the media in Assam, claiming responsibility for the blast at Doomdooma in Tinsukia Thursday and the blast at Paltan Bazar Saturday evening.

The outfit also termed the civilian causality that occurred in the two blasts in Tinsukia and Guwahati as unwanted and appealed to the people in general to maintain a secure distance from “Indian occupational forces” in the days to come.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Guwahati, Anand Prakash Tiwari, however, said they are yet to confirm the involvement of any particular outfit behind the blast and said that investigation is still on regarding Saturday evening’s blast.

He said an operation is on in and around the city to nab the culprits involved in the blast, and the police have so far picked up 50 people from various areas on the suspicion of their involvement in the blast.

While Thursday’s blast in Doomdooma town in Tinsukia had injured 14 people, including three policemen, the blast at Paltan Bazar left one person dead and 12 others injured.

The deceased in the Guwahati blast was identified as Bhawani Singh of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), while three other CRPF personnel were among the injured.

Meanwhile, indefinite curfew, imposed in Dhubri Saturday evening after unknown assailants hurled a patrol bomb at I.G. Road, continued on Sunday.

The situation remained tense in Dhubri town since Saturday morning after a temple in the town was looted Friday night. Police also had to resort to blank firing after two communities clashed over the issue of the temple’s burglary.

However, tension escalated on Saturday evening after police recovered the body of a person from the district — following which the administration imposed indefinite curfew in two sub-divisions of Dhubri and Bilasipara.

A senior Assam Police official, however, said the situation is under control now in Dhubri.

Army, which was called in to help the police in maintaining law and order, had also carried out a flag march in sensitive areas of the two sub-divisions late Saturday evening (IANS)