The grenades on display at the office of Sivasagar superintendent of police on Wednesday. Picture by UB Photos

Jorhat, Nov. 16: The recovery of five bottle grenades from Assam’s Sivasagar district today indicates that the Ulfa’s Paresh Barua-led faction is adding teeth to its arsenal.

The bottle grenades — so called because they are shaped like bottles — were exhumed from the backyard of the house of Dhaneshwar Konwar, a resident of Laguabari village under Demow police station, Sivasagar superintendent of police A.K. Singh said. Demow is about 13km east of the district headquarters.

The grenades were dug out based on information provided by Ulfa linkman Trailakya Hazarika, 35, who was picked up from Lukhurakhan under Sonari police station in Sivasagar district late on Tuesday night, he added.

Singh said Hazarika had hidden the grenades at the house of Konwar, his relative, following orders from the Barua faction.

Deputy inspector-general of police (eastern range) Anurag Tankha told The Telegraph that the bottle grenades were suspected to be of Chinese origin.

The bottle grenades are far more powerful and sophisticated than the olive-shaped hand grenades. The DIG said the bottle-shaped explosives do not have in-built splinters like the olive-shaped grenades but they explode into several pieces with a profound impact. They can be used against people, vehicles and to destroy infrastructure. Unlike other grenades, they leave little trace after explosion.

Tankha said the Barua faction had acquired the bottle grenades recently for carrying out sabotage in the run-up to the “black day” which the outfit observes on November 28 each year since 1990 — the day the Centre launched “Operation Bajrang” against it after dismissing the Prafulla Kumar Mahanta-led AGP government and bringing the state under President’s rule.

The DIG said security forces were on full alert.

Recently, three hand grenades and some explosive materials were recovered from luggage in a Guwahati-bound train from Ledo in Tinsukia during a brief halt at Farkating station in Golaghat district.

On Monday, over 1,500 rounds of assorted ammunition were recovered from a linkman at Nagaghat in Dibrugarh district.

Last month, militants of the Barua faction had shot dead a surrendered Ulfa leader, Tileswar Lahon, at Moran in Dibrugarh district just a few days after they gunned down a small tea grower at Chabua in the district.

On November 5, the militants shot dead a small-time trader in Moran.