IED found in Assam ahead of PM Narendra Modi's visit

GUWAHATI/NEW DELHI: An improvised explosive device weighing over 5.5 kg was found in a running train near Guwahati that sleuths suspect was meant to be triggered when PM Narendra Modi attended a police directors-general conference in Guwahati next Sunday.

Security personnel on duty in Alipurduar-Kamakhya Intercity Express spotted a plastic bag covered with a towel and wires sticking out near Kendukona railway station under Rangiya sub-division in Kamrup district.

A late-nigh statement by the National Investigation Agency said, “based on intelligence inputs that explosive materials and improvised explosive devices were being transported for planning attacks in Assam and the same were being transported by AlipurDuar-KamakhyaIntercity Express, the Assam Police were alerted and a joint operation was undertaken. It is learnt that the explosives were meant to be used during the period when a high-level conference was scheduled to be held.”

Modi and Home Minister are expected to address the conference of DGPs and IGPs in Guwahati on November 29-30. The statement said the bomb was found in the toilet of the fourth compartment of the train. The passengers were asked to disembark for checking the train thoroughly and senior police, civil and railway officials, along with a dog squad of the Assam Police, rushed to the spot and removed the bomb. Intelligence agencies had warned that anti-talk faction of Ulfa could attack BJP leaders and workers and Hindi-speaking persons ahead of Modi’s visit.

SP of GRP, Ronak Ali Hazarika told ET: “The police found the bomb at around 12pm in the intercity express plying from Alipurduar to Kamakhya.”