Assam on high alert after ULFA-I bomb threat: Extensive checking underway in Guwahati

Guwahati, August 15: Security forces have heightened their presence across Assam in response to a bomb threat from the banned outfit United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I), on Thursday.

In Guwahati, the police have cordoned off several roads in the city, including stretches of Zoo Road, the Ulubari-Rajgarh connecting road, and Narengi, where intensive checking is currently underway.

In Narengi, near the Office of the Controller of Defence Accounts, the police have launched a search operation and have reportedly summoned the bomb squad to assist in the efforts.

A similar search operation is underway in Lastgate and on the road to Gandhi Mandap.

This comes after the proscribed outfit, in a statement sent to various media houses, claimed that they have planted bombs in eight locations, including Jorabat, in the city.

Following the threat, security forces swiftly swung into action across districts in the state and at the time of writing this report, a few bomb-like structures, wrapped in polythene, have been recovered from Sivasagar, Lakhimpur and Nagaon.

Earlier in the day, ULFA-I issued a press release stating that bombs had been planted in various districts as a protest against the Independence Day celebrations.

The group has called on security forces to locate and defuse the devices.

This is a developing story and more details are awaited.