The outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) on Friday claimed responsibility for a powerful landmine blast in which five paramilitary troopers were killed and more than 30 wounded in Western Assam’s Goalapara district.
The intelligence agencies, which claimed to have alerted the police with specific inputs on subversive plan of the outfit much in advance, also confirmed the involvement of 109-battalion of Ulfa in the blast.
The CRPF troopers were travelling in two buses when the Ulfa rebels used a remote-controlled device to trigger the explosion, said Mr Luis Aind, district superintendent of the police. The blast occurred at about 8 am near Solmari on a road passing through a dense jungle, about 6 km from the town of Goalpara.
The explosion blew up the bus, ferrying the CRPF troopers returning from a training session. The explosive experts said that many lives were saved as impact of the blast was not horizontal and struck the bus from one side.
Among those wounded, condition of 14 CRPF troopers was stated to be very critical. The police said that they have been shifted to Guwahati Medical College Hospital for a better treatment. Four of the soldiers had died on the spot, while one among those critically wounded succumbed to injuries on way to Guwahati Medical College Hospital.
Meanwhile, Ulfa spokesman Anu Buragohain told local news channel, “We carried out the blast on the CRPF bus and will step up our offensive if the government does not immediately stop killing our cadres.”
He also claimed that contrary to the claims of the government, the Ulfa is not a spent force. “After our recent reverses we were dismissed as a weak force. But here we are to prove our strength,” the caller said, identifying himself as Anu Buragohain of Ulfa.
A massive counter-insurgency operation has already been launched in the area with the police and CRPF troopers, along with the Army, combing the location to hunt for the rebels.