Blast-rattled Assam cries for more forces

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Blast-rattled Assam cries for more forces

Anurag Kashyap in Guwahati | June 12, 2006 17:23 IST

Assam government has decided to seek additional forces from the Centre to augment security in view of the latest show of violence by the banned United Liberation Front of Asom.

A red alert was sounded in the state asking all the intelligence agencies and security forces to gear up vigil in view of the series of explosions that have been rocking the state since Thursday evening and have so far claimed six lives. 70 people have been injured and extensive damage has been caused to oil and gas installations in upper Assam.

The Army, police and paramilitary forces in the state sounded the alert following the meeting of the three-tier Unified Command that is in charge of counter insurgency operations carried out.

State chief secretary S Kabilan chaired the Unified Command meeting which was attended senior Asom police officials headed by the Director General, D N Dutta and high-level Army officials.

The meeting decided to seek additional forces from the Centre to tackle the threat posed to lives and property by the marauding militants who are triggering rampant explosions throughout the state.

The forces are being re-aligned to intensify the anti-ultra operations as it was apprehended that the militant groups would continue its belligerence as a 'pressure tactics' before the talks between its nominated negotiators of People's Consultative Group and the Government of India. The negotiation is slated for June 22 in New Delhi.

The state police has dismissed as eyewash the ULFA statement in which the extremist outfit denied its hand behind the blasts that claimed innocent lives. The ULFA had a hand in Friday's blasts in the vegetable market in Guwahati that left five innocents dead and 13 injured.

The ULFA leader instead blamed the police for the blasts targeting innocent people to derail the on-going peace initiative.

Inspector General (Special Branch) of Assam police, Khagen Sharma told media, "It is an old tactic of the ULFA to deny its hand when innocent people are killed in explosions executed by it."

Meanwhile, journalists in the state have taken strong exception to the threat issued by the banned ULFA against four senior print journalists based in Guwahati.

The Journalists Union of Assam, an affiliate to Indian Journalists Union, while condemning the ULFA threat issued against the senior scribes, called for a protest meeting on June 14 to discuss the issue of threat posed to the media by the banned ULFA.

The commander-in-chief of the ULFA, Paresh Barua, in an e-mailed statement issued to the media in Guwahati on June 10 warned four journalists including D N Bezbarua (former editor of The Sentinel) and Prasanta Rajguru (Executive Editor of Amar Asom) against making efforts to bare the eroding support base of militant group.

The ULFA leader accused these journalists of acting on behalf of 'colonial Indian security forces' to 'weaken the revolution'. ULFA is known for its constant monitoring of media reports related to its activities.

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