Jan. 23: Blasting pipelines and other vital installations at will, the banned Ulfa has left Assam powerless in more ways than one.

Neepco?s gas-based power plant at Kathalguri went out of business ? experts say it could remain shut for upto seven days ? when militants blew up a pipeline yesterday as part of their pre-Republic Day terror campaign.

The Assam Gas Company Ltd pipeline carries gas from the oil-collecting station of Oil India Ltd to Neepco?s 291-MW power plant, just eight km away, under Duliajan police station. Production at the Neepco plant came to a halt immediately, resulting in a shortfall of 120 MW. The Upper Assam districts have since been experiencing long powercuts. The peak-hour demand is 550 MW.

Sources said Ulfa militants had first tried to blow up the pipeline at 8.30 pm, but could not cause any damage. They made a second attempt at a different spot, 3 km away, around 11.45 pm. A villager from Bokuloni said the blast was deafening and its impact could be felt within a 10-km radius of the site.

A senior Neepco official said repairs would take time. An Assam State Electricity Board official echoed him. ?Dark days lie ahead.?

The blast caused an estimated loss of Rs 2 crore per day to Neepco and Rs 2 lakh a day to Assam Gas company Ltd.

Ulfa militants triggered another explosion in front of a rice mill at Beganakhowa in Golaghat district at 6.45 pm today, the 15th since Saturday night. Nobody was killed or injured.

In Jorhat, the police defused a bomb planted near the Tibetan market in the heart of the city. They found 300 grams of RDX connected to a timer. The bomb was set to go off at 8.10 pm, when the market is usually crowded.

Seven new Ulfa recruits were arrested near Balaji Temple at Lokhra, in Guwahati, last night. The rebels were suspected to be behind the grenade explosion near Zoo Road Tinali.