The explosives, arms and ammunition and other articles recovered in Dibrugarh district on Monday

Dibrugarh, July 20: Security forces today seized a detailed sketch of Dibrugarh airport, along with a large quantity of explosives, from an Ulfa hideout in a dense jungle in the district, sending alarm bells ringing in the security establishment ahead of the outfit’s “martyrs’ day” and Independence Day celebrations.

Only yesterday, police claimed to have foiled Ulfa’s attempt to trigger blasts in Guwahati. A bomb was found hidden in a garbage dump and two men were arrested.

The police said security in and around the “airport is being reviewed and necessary measures are being taken” to ensure foolproof security.

Some other sketches, which appeared to be of bridges and oil and gas pipelines, were also found at the hideout at Seesabil under Tingkhong police station. The area is adjacent to the Buri Dehing river which demarcates Dibrugarh and Sivasagar districts.

The recoveries include around 3kg TNT, 1.5kg RDX, five gelatin sticks, a hand grenade, a handmade pistol, 55 rounds of AK-series ammunition, three rounds of .303 rifle ammunition, extortion notes, camouflage uniforms and medicines.

The army’s 318 Field Regiment and the police launched the joint operation around 5am but found no militants. “Ulfa could be planning something big ahead of its martyrs’ day on July 28 and Independence Day,” a senior police official said after giving details of the recovery.

He said the explosives were probably meant to be taken out and used later by some assigned militants. “The airport sketch clearly indicates the road which links the airport road from National Highway 37. What is more important is the fact the sketch is of the new airport building which was inaugurated just before Lok Sabha elections,” the police official said.

Dibrugarh airport is in Mohanbari, around 16km from this Upper Assam town. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is in overall charge of security of the airport. With less than a month left for Independence Day, security agencies’ concern of Ulfa striking its traditional targets — oil and gas pipelines, railway tracks, important bridges and roads — doubled today with the recovery of these sketches.

Intelligence agencies had already hinted that the outfit would try to hit its conventional targets to prove its existence, particularly in Upper Assam. The outfit is said to be trying to prove a point after the unilateral ceasefire by the Alpha and Charlie companies of the 28 battalion a year ago, which helped restore peace in the area to a great extent.

The police official said an “overall alert” had been sounded throughout the district.

“We have asked Oil India Limited, Assam Gas Company Limited and Brahmaputra Valley Fertiliser Corporation Limited to be extra cautious after today’s haul,” he added.