Eight persons were injured when a bomb went off at Srirampur town on the western border of Assam at 11.30 am on Tuesday. The police later recovered another bomb from near the blast.

The police said unidentified militants planted a bomb on a bicycle parked near Assam State Transport Department check-gate near Assam-West Bengal boundary at Srirampur. An alert has been sounded in Assam apprehending possible strikes of insurgents including the banned United Liberation Front of Asom in the run up to the 58th Republic Day of India.

The ULFA along with three other militant groups from the Northeast including Kamatapur Liberation Organisation, which is active in Western Assam and  North Bengal area have called for boycott of  "Indian Republic Day celebrations' and a general strike on January 26.

Meanwhile, the army shot dead a ULFA militant at Raidang village in eastern Assam's Tinsukia district on Tuesday and recovered some arms, ammunition and explosives from the possession of the militant, police sources informed.