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Dhubri, July 31: The Ulfa struck today after a lull, triggering a blast that left one army jawan dead and six others injured at Bamunghopa between Makri and Soulmari under Goalpara police station.
The incident occurred when two army vehicles carrying troops from the Dogra regiment were going from Kokrajhar to Agiya.
An army source in Goalpara said when the vehicles reached Bamunghopa at 10.20am, the planted IED was exploded by remote control.
Both the vehicles were partially damaged while splinters hit seven jawans, one of whom died on the spot, the source said.
The injured were shifted to Army Base Hospital at Basisistha in Guwahati.
A bomb squad of the army, which rushed to the spot, recovered another IED from the vicinity after which the army launched operations to apprehend the militants.
When contacted Goalpara additional SP Sushanta Biswa Sarma said he rushed to the spot but the army personnel had already moved the body for postmortem and the injured shifted to hospital.
The Paresh Barua faction of Ulfa claimed responsibility for the blast and said the attack was carried out as part of its armed struggle against “Indian colonial forces”.
In a statement, Arunodoi Asom (Dohotia), spokesperson of the group, claimed three security personnel were killed and nine others were seriously hurt in the attack.
Sources in Goalpara district said a team of seven Ulfa cadres was reported to be in the district under the leadership of Drishti Rajkhowa.
The incident comes 15 days ahead of the Independence day, a period the Ulfa chooses to carry out attacks.
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