Dhubri, Oct. 17: An improvised explosive device (IED) found in a grocery shop at Gaspara under Dhubri police station in the wee hours today has triggered serious concern among security agencies in lower Assam.

Acting on specific information, Dhubri police raided the shop, recovered the IED weighing 3kg and arrested Shah Zaman Ali, the owner of the shop.

A police source said Zaman was under surveillance for quite some time.

Officer-in-charge, Dhubri college police outpost, Rupkumar Talukdar, said the IED was inside Zaman’s sleeping quarters inside the shop.

“Though we are still interrogating him to unearth more information, he has not confessed anything. We suspect him to be involved in some of the militant network. We hope to extract loads of information from him,” Talukdar added

The IED was later defused by the police bomb squad team today.

As many as nine IEDs and crude bombs were recovered from various parts of lower Assam districts, including seven from Dhubri district, by security agencies in the past few months.

On October 2, an IED weighing 3.5kg was recovered from a Dhubri-bound bus (no. AMP /1879) coming from Gossaigaon of Kokrajhar district by the CRPF.

On October 4, the BSF and the army recovered an IEDs and two crude bombs from different places of Dhubri district.

The two crude bombs were recovered from a Dhubri-Kacharighat-bound country boat coming from Majherchar of Dhubri district after the BSF intercepted the vessel.

The army recovered an IED weighing 10kg near 26 railway bridge at Sukhi-Dukhi village under Golokganj police station of Dhubri district on the night of October 3.

Last week, the army apprehended a linkman of the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) identified as Phulnam Sangma, 21. An IED weighing 10kg was found on him. In mid-September, a man was arrested by Chapor police with two IEDs who was coming to Dhubri by car from Jogighopa at Bahalpur of Dhubri district.

On August 12, two IEDs were recovered from two different places by the army and the police in Goalpara district.

Officer-in-charge of Chapor police station, Naikhatra Bora, who is also a member of Dhubri police bomb squad team, said recovery of so many IEDs and bombs from various places of Dhubri district has caused serious concern in police circles and security agencies as well.

“We suspect some underground organisations are trying to create panic and spread terror among the people but we are yet to ascertain which organisation is behind it,” Bora said.