ULFA(I) behind grenade blast: Assam govt

The anti-talk faction of ULFA led by Paresh Baruah was behind the grenade blast at Paltan Bazar in the heart of the city that left 15 people injured, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said today.
He said ULFA(I) had carried out the blasts on last night with help from outside agencies and directed officials to take necessary steps to prevent such incidents.
Gogoi admitted that there must have been some security lapse "otherwise the blast would not have taken place".
"Outside agencies do not want development in Assam and as such are pressuring insurgent outfits active in the state to carry out such blasts...If there is development in Assam, the problem of unemployment will end and youth will not join any insurgent outfit. As a result, these outside forces will lose ground," he told reporters at Mariani.

Director General of Police Jayanta Narayan Choudhury told newsmen at the blast site here that ULFA(I) top leader Drishti Rajkhowa was the mastermind of the blast.
"We got intelligence inputs that Paresh Barua-led ULFA(I) may carry out subversive activties in the run-up to Independence Day," he said.

With warnings of more such incidents, the government has put in place measures to prevent them while security has been tightened in vulnerable areas across the state. Checking, patrolling and intelligence gathering have been stepped up.
Noting that the grenade thrown yesterday was of Chinese make, he said, "Chinese ones are easily available and their casings are made of plastic. Because of that the blast was less intense."

A National Investigation Agency team that carried out investigations at the blast site during the day too confirmed that it was a Chinese grenade.