June 23: City police stumbled upon a cache of arms and ammunition that had been concealed underground by Ulfa militants at Hengrabari.

Police said the cache was unearthed at the premises of an abandoned house at Lichubagan in Hengrabari. The house was earlier used by an arrested Ulfa militant, Saranga Patowary alias Akash Thapa.

The Dispur police recovered two AK-56 rifles, 370 rounds of live ammunition of AK series rifles, six magazines and seven rounds of live ammunition of 0.45 and 9 mm pistols respectively, 12 empty cartridges, a grenade spring and two bayonet covers from the site late last night.

However, it was not known whether Patowary concealed the arms and ammunition before his arrest or someone else buried them later on.

Police have already moved court seeking Patowary’s custody on Tuesday following the blast at the Assembly complex on Monday.

He is now in judicial custody. The court is considering the plea of the city police. A case has been registered against Patowary at Panbazar police station.

A police source said an entry pass to the capital complex and a map of Dispur were recovered from his possession at the time of his arrest on April 22.

The pass was reportedly issued to Patowary by the office of a senior minister in the Tarun Gogoi ministry.

The police have also stepped up efforts to trace Ulfa explosives expert Sapna, who is believed to be holed up in the city.

The police claimed that Gautam Talukdar, an employee at the computer section of the Assam Administrative Staff College, was in touch with Ulfa leader Hira Sarania and had helped Sapna.