GUWAHATI BLAST
STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The investigation into the Wednesday’s grenade blast on RG Baruah Road here has taken an interesting twist with the police claiming that the outlawed ULFA (I) is reviving its old cadres base to cause such subversive activities and the outfit chief Paresh Barua accusing the police of framing false charges.
Guwahati Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar told reporters here on Friday that no one could imagine and believe that the ULFA (I) would have used a lady to trigger the grenade blast on Wednesday. He said there are reports and information that the ULFA (I) is using its old cadres to execute its various plans.
The City Police on Thursday arrested a self-styled ULFA leader Pranamoy Rajguru and an actress Jahnabi Saikia in connection with the grenade blast on RG Baruah Road here on Wednesday evening, leaving 12 people, including two SSB personnel and children, injured. The duo were arrested from a rented house (number 10) situated on Niharika bye-lane at Namghar Path at Panjabari here.
Meanwhile, the ULFA (I) chief Paresh Barua on Friday told a section of the media that even though his outfit caused the grenade blast with the sole intention to target the CRPF & SSB jawans, both Pranamoy Rajguru and Jahnabi Saikia were no way involved with the blast. He said the duo was neither directly nor indirectly involved with the ULFA.
Barua accused the police of framing false charges against Pranamoy Rajguru and Jahnabi Saikia to highlight its success story. He said some cadres of his outfit might have taken shelter at Jahnabi Saikia’s rented accommodation soon after triggering the Wednesday’s blast. But giving shelter does not imply that Jahnabi was associated or executed the blast, Barua said, adding that the blast was aimed at security personnel not at all civilians.
On the other hand, the police on Friday recovered a scooty (AS-O1-DQ-4420) from Jahnabi’s rented accommodation at Panjabari. The scooty fitted with GPS is suspected to have been used during of the course of planning and triggering the Wednesday’s blast. Police on Thursday recovered a 9 mm pistol, 25 rounds of bullets, two empty cartridges, 20 kg of gun powder, and ULFA pads besides materials to make bombs from the rented house.
Both Pranamoy Rajguru and Jahnabi Saikia were remanded to 10-day police custody on Friday. The police have registered two cases at Geetanagar and Satgaon police stations in connection with the blast. Sources said in one of the cases the charge of sedition has been levelled against Rajguru and Saikia. One former ULFA bomb expert Amit Ballav Goswami was detained at Golaghat in connection with the Guwahati blast.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal called on Governor Prof. Jagdish Mukhi at Raj Bhavan here on Friday evening and briefed him of the prevailing situation. Sonowal briefed the Governor about the prevailing situation in Assam, especially aftermath the grenade blast near the State Zoo in the city. He apprised the Governor of the current law and order prevailing in the Brahmaputra and Barak Valleys.