Guwahati, Nov. 7: An army patrol party found a 2kg bomb packed with RDX planted under a concrete bridge on the Sonari-Sapekhati road in Sivasagar district, close to the Nagaland border, a route frequented by the security forces.
Had the bomb exploded, the four-metre-long culvert would have been left unusable.
An army officer based in Upper Assam said the finger of suspicion pointed to Ulfa as the area was once a stronghold of the outfit and the target was definitely security personnel. “The bomb was detected around 7am and defused about three hours later,” he said.
On Wednesday, 1.5kg of RDX was recovered from an arrested Ulfa militant in the same district.
According to Padmapani, a Guwahati-based forensic expert, a huge quantity of RDX was used in the October 30 blasts — around 80kg — in the city alone. Though sleuths of the National Security Guards (NSG) confirmed the use of RDX, they said the three bombs were packed with 18kg explosives.
The army officer said there was hardly any doubt that Ulfa had planted the bomb near Aideobari tea estate, 4km from the Nagaland border, because of its proximity to the neighbouring state.
He said Ulfa militant Parikshit Gogoi, from whom RDX was recovered on Wednesday, had revealed during interrogation that the consignment was brought from Nagaland.
A source associated with the intelligence-gathering apparatus said in the “who gains from the blasts” analysis, it was unanimously agreed that Ulfa stood to benefit the most as it would again be a force to reckon with. It could relaunch its extortion drive in Upper Assam which had a taken a severe beating after the ceasefire by the 28 battalion.
The outfit had denied its role within an hour after the blasts. The source said there was no reason yet to eliminate the possibility of Ulfa’s role in the serial explosions, especially after the RDX haul and the bomb find.
Intelligence sources said the recent explosions could not have been carried out by Ulfa alone given the high quantum of RDX used.
Parking norms
The Assam government today made it mandatory for drivers to give their names and addresses to the authorities concerned while parking their vehicles at various public places. The drivers will also have to allow their vehicles to be inspected to ensure that those do not contain any explosive devices.
