Guwahati, Aug. 18: The two arrested students, allegedly engaged by Ulfa (Independent) to trigger serial blasts in Tinsukia district on Independence Day, have "told" interrogators and counsellors that they were asked to plant bombs in busy places but did not do so "fearing" largescale casualties.

According to the state home department and the Assam State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the students did not take Rs 500 offered by the outfit to do the job because they "believed" in its fight to "save" Assam from "outsiders".

Home commissioner L.S. Changsan told The Telegraph this morning: "During interrogation, the boys revealed they were asked by Ulfa (I) to plant the bombs in markets, thanas (police stations) and offices. We don't know why they did not go ahead with the plan but engaging kids to carry out subversive activities is very disturbing. We have activated nagarik samittees (citizens' committees) and intensified operations."

Changsan's version was corroborated by the child rights commission chairperson Runumi Gogoi this afternoon. She said the first counselling session of the boys was carried out at an observation home in Jorhat today. They were shifted there by the Juvenile Justice Board after their arrest yesterday. The boys are students of Classes IX and X. Commission member Gopal Sharma, who reached Jorhat today, was part of the counselling team.

"What we gathered from the first counselling session today is very scary. The students revealed they did not plant the bombs in busy places fearing many deaths. They also said they did not take the Rs 500 offered to fill petrol because they believed in the Ulfa's fight to save Assam, which was under threat from outsiders," Gogoi said.

The counselling went on for most part of the day. "The boys attended school regularly. One of them was absent for a couple of days as his brother-in-law had met with an accident. They were introduced to Ulfa cadres by an acquaintance, Bitul Moran. Police are looking for him," she said and appealed to the outfit not to engage minors in such activities.

Ulfa (I) has, however, denied the police claim that they had engaged the students to carry out the blasts.

A statement emailed by the outfit to media houses today accused the police of spreading a concocted story to malign it.

It claimed that the arrest of the two students is nothing but a "drama stage-managed by additional director-general of police (law and order) S.N. Singh and Tinsukia SP Mugdhajyoti Mahanta in a bid to hide their failure to prevent the blasts on Independence Day". The statement said they had neither used children to carry out subversive activities in the past nor will they do so in the future.

Mahanta had said it was a "matter of serious concern" that Ulfa (I) has involved students to plant explosives.

On the other hand, a 10-member team of the National Security Guards' bomb disposal and detection unit reached Tinsukia today to "examine" a defused bomb, weighing 18kg, and "used" for the first time in the state. The bomb was recovered from under a bridge at Doomdooma yesterday. Four of the five bombs went off but there was no casualty. The blasts followed the August 12 killing of a farmer and his son in Phillobari, 12km from Doomdooma in Tinsukia district, which has a significant Hindi-speaking population.

Sources said the NSG team had cordoned off the area and was even making the site out of bounds for police personnel. Singh told The Telegraph that the circuit used in the bomb seems to be a sophisticated one and it has never been used earlier by Ulfa (I) to trigger blasts in the state earlier. "Since it is a new type of circuit, the NSG bomb experts will examine it as they maintain a database on explosives used in the country," he said.

Security forces have launched a manhunt for the Ulfa cadres involved in the recent blasts at Saraipung reserve forest under Digboi forest division in Tinsukia district. According to sources, a four-to-five member team, led by Uday Asom, had sneaked into Assam from Arunachal Pradesh to create trouble ahead of Independence Day.