Dhemaji bomb blast verdict postponed yet again

GUWAHATI: The Dhemaji District & Sessions Court on Thursday postponed the pronouncement of the verdict in the 2004 Dhemaji blast case after the sudden death of a defence counsel.

The verdict is now expected to be delivered on July 4. Defence lawyer Ghanashyam Lahon, who was representing four of the 15 accused, died in a road accident. Dhemaji Bar Association made an appeal to defer the judgement as Lahon was also secretary of the Dhemaji Bar Association.

In 2004, the banned militant outfit Ulfa triggered a bomb explosion during Independence Day parade resulting in the death of 18 people, mostly school children. The explosion was triggered through a remote controlled device.


Ulfa started losing its support base across Assam after the blast. The banned outfit had initially denied any role in the blast, but later tendered an apology for the incident.

Ulfa’s general secretary Anup Chetia had said in 2015, “We are sorry that innocent lives were lost in the incident. I do not know the individuals who had triggered the explosion but what I know is that the target was not the children and women but security forces.”