Five Explosions Rock Assam On Republic Day, DGP Says Probe Initiated

The first blast was reported outside a shop at Teokghat in Sonari police station area of Charaideo district. Three explosions followed soon after in Dibrugarh district - two at Graham Bazar and AT Road.

Image: ANI

New Delhi: Amid tight security arrangements, five major explosions rocked three districts of Assam in the morning of the 71st Republic Day. Three explosions took place in Dibrugarh, one in Charaideo and one in Tinsukia district. There has been no report of any casualty. As per officials, all the blasts occurred in a span of 10 minutes - between 8.15 and 8.25 am. There has been no report of any casualty, as Republic Day being a holiday, people were mostly indoors. The first blast was reported outside a shop at Teokghat in Sonari police station area of Charaideo district. Three explosions followed soon after in Dibrugarh district - two at Graham Bazar and AT Road, beside a gurudwara, and another at the oil town of Duliajan Tiniali, just 100 metres from the local police station, news agency PTI reported citing officials. Taking to Twitter, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal condemned the blasts and vowed to take strong action against the culprits. "Strongly condemn the bomb blasts in a few places of Assam. This cowardly attempt to create terror on a sacred day only exhibits the frustration of the terror groups after their total rejection by the people. Our Govt will take the sternest action to bring the culprits to book," he tweeted. Assam DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahant said, "We have received the information about the explosion in Dibrugarh." "An investigation has begun, it is being probed that who is involved in this," the DGP said Senior police officers have rushed to the site of the explosions and a probe has been initiated, Barua added. According to sources, the explosions were suspected to be the handiwork of the ULFA(Independent), but nothing has been established as yet. The ULFA(I), along with several other proscribed outfits in the Northeast, had called for a boycott of the Republic Day celebrations. CCTV footages available at Duliajan Tiniali showed two motorcycle-borne youths lobbed a grenade and sped away, the ASP explained. The blasts at Graham Bazar and AT Road were carried out with time-induced Improvised Explosive Devices, he stated.