ULFA-I Sparks Panic with Bomb Claims at 19 Locations Across Assam

GUWAHATI: The banned militant group ULFA-I claimed on Independence Day that they had planted bombs in 19 locations across Assam.

However, they stated that the bombs didn't go off due to technical issues. Eight of these locations were in the state capital, Guwahati.

The group said they planned to set off the explosives during Independence Day celebrations as a way of protesting with violence.

However, "technical errors" stopped the bombs from going off as planned between 6 am and 12 noon.

ULFA-I also shared a list of the targeted locations and photos of some bomb sites, including one near the state secretariat in Dispur, Guwahati.

The group, which is demanding a "sovereign Assam," has been boycotting Independence Day celebrations.

The police have started an investigation. They have also reportedly sent teams to search for the bombs based on the list released by the banned militant group.

The warning comes almost 20 years after a deadly bomb blast during an Independence Day parade in Dhemaji, Assam, in 2004. The remote-controlled explosion killed 18 people and injured many more.

In 2004, a bomb blast during an Independence Day parade at Dhemaji College in Assam killed at least 18 people and injured many more. The police said the bomb, placed near the college gate, was triggered remotely while teachers and children were passing through.

Meanwhile, Separatist groups NSCN (Yung Aung) and ULFA (Independent) have jointly called for a boycott of  India's Independence Day and a total shutdown on August 15 in Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh.

The gatherings encouraged "opportunity cherishing Wesean residents" to notice a total closure from 12 PM to 8:00 PM on Freedom Day, sticking to the trademark "One Individuals One District One Vision."

They explained that emergency services, media, and religious activities will be absolved from the closure.

In a joint public statement, the insurgent groups reprimanded India's Freedom Day as a "colonialist image" intended to delude the world and propagate the concealment of the Wesean locale's desires.

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