Guwahati Blast: Actress, ‘ULFA Leader’ Arrested, NIA Probe Likely

GUWAHATI: The City Police have arrested a self-styled ‘ULFA leader’ and an actress in connection with the grenade blast on RG Baruah Road here on Wednesday evening, leaving 12 people, including two SSB personnel and children, injured.

While the woman has been identified as Jahnabi Saikia, the ‘ULFA leader’ is identified as Pranamoy Rajguru. The duo has been arrested from a rented house (number 10) situated on Niharika bye-lane at Namghar Path at Panjabari here.

A few hours after the Wednesday’s grenade blast, the police had traced a mobile phone number from which several calls were made to the blast spot. On the basis of details of the phone calls from that particular mobile handset, the police located the rented house at Panjabari on Wednesday night and conducted a raid early on Thursday morning.

After a marathon raid at the house, the police finally arrested Pranamoy Rajguru and Jahnavi Saikia. Jahnavi who hails from Sivasagar district and is an actress, took the house at Namghar path on rent just ten days ago. Nearby residents said Rajguru used to visit Jahnavi’s rented accommodation quite frequently. Police 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. A forensic team visited the spot and collected samples.

Guwahati Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar told reporters that it has been suspected that the rented house at Panjabari was being used as a sort of slipper cell of the ULFA (I) to plan and carry out subversive activities. He said a Chinese-made grenade might have been used in the Wednesday’s blast. “The pistol recovered from the Panjabari house is similar to the ones generally used by senior ULFA leaders. We suspect that Rajguru was entrusted to carry out subversive activities in and around Guwahati. We kept the house at Panjabari under observation for two hours after the blast on Wednesday,” Kumar said, adding that a few more people are likely to be arrested.

Meanwhile, the police have registered a case (210/19) at Geetanagar Police Station in connection with the blast. Sources said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) might probe the blast incident.

At least 12 people were injured after a grenade blast on Wednesday evening in front of Guwahati Central, a shopping mall on the R.G. Baruah Road near the Assam State Zoo.

Also Read: Top Headlines