Terror loomed large over Assam on the 60th Independence Day as the proscribed ULFA triggered a string of blasts and enforced a total shutdown across the state.

The militant outfit triggered four back-to-back explosions in Dhubri and Bongaigaon districts of western Assam on Wednesday. The blasts took place not very far from the venues of official Independence Day celebrations. None was injured though.

“With tight security arrangements in place across the state, the ULFA could not have done anything more than triggering symbolic blasts,” said the State’s Inspector General of Police (Law and Order), R Chandranathan.
The secessionist outfit had called upon people to boycott the ‘Indian Independence Day’ celebrations. It had also called for a dawn-to-dusk bandh on Wednesday.

The streets in the capital-city looked deserted on Tuesday, as panic-stricken majority preferred to stay indoors.
Apart from the official ceremony at the Judges’ Field, only a few Centre and State Government offices and PSUs had arranged Independence Day celebrations in their premises.

The ULFA had in 2004 triggered a blast at the venue of the Independence Day celebration in the Dhemaji district of the State, killing 13 persons – including many school children – and injuring several others. As the series of rebel offensives over the past few days relived memories of the blast in Dhemaji, panic loomed large over the State.