ULFA behind twin blasts in Assam: Police

Dismissing ULFA's claim that it was not responsible for twin blasts in the district, police today asserted that the banned outfit was behind the explosions.

"Preliminary investigations have showed that the ULFA is behind the blasts," Inspector General of Police (IGP-law and order) Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta told reporters after visiting the blast sites here.

The militants used IED, tied with two bicycles parked within 50 metres of the blast sites, for the explosions, he said. The first blast, which was of low intensity and did not cause any casualty, took place at 9.55 am. Nearly 15 minutes later, the second blast occurred near a police station here and claimed six lives and injured about 54 others.

Mahanta said the ULFA had planned to engage itself in subversive activities ahead of November 27 to air its protest against the first army operation 'Operation Bajrang' launched on that date in 1991.

Earlier, Hira Sarania, self-styled Commander of the outfit's 709 battalion, told a local news channel that ULFA was not involved in the bomb blasts. "It was a conspiracy by a certain section to derail the proposed peace talk."

Chief minister Tarun Gogoi, who is in Delhi, however did not identify any particular insurgent group behind the blasts.