Militants attack CRPF convoy in Assam

Suspected ULFA militants detonated an IED targeting a CRPF convoy in Assam’s Goalpara district in the wee hours of Thursday. None was injured in the incident. A red alert has been sounded following threats from the anti-talk faction of the banned group led by the elusive Paresh Baruah.

The blast, triggered from a hill, targeted two CRPF vehicles at Khardong under Krishnai police station in Goalpara. The convoy had crossed the area before the IED exploded, Goalpara SP Shyamal Saikia said.

“There was an attack on a CRPF convoy, but none was hurt,” Additional DGP (law and order) A P Rout said. He said the red alert had been declared in the run-up to Independence Day celebrations and special security measures taken to maintain peace in view of the threat of subversive activities from the anti-talk faction of the ULFA. The explosion came two days after a powerful bomb was recovered and defused near National Highway 37 at Haldapara in the same district.

On Wednesday, ULFA’s anti-talk faction removed Arabinda Rajkhowa as its ‘chairman’ and appointed ‘acting chairman’ Abhijit Asom in his place.