NEW DELHI, Aug 7 (KUNA) -- At least three people were killed and 10 injured in a powerful explosion Tuesday in Jorhat district of India's Northeastern state of Assam, ahead of the counntry's August 15 Independence Day celebrations.
The explosion took place in front of a police station in Jorhat this evening, news agency Indo Asian News Service reported.
The injured, four of them policemen, were admitted to a hospital at Jorhat with multiple injuries, the news agency said.
This is the fourth explosion in the past two days. 10 people were injured last Sunday in three separate blasts in Assam. State Police have blamed all the attacks on the outlawed insurgent outfit -- United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).
Today's attacks are also seen as attempts to intensify attacks by ULFA ahead of India's Independence Day celebrations on August 15, the news agency said.
Indian security forces have been put on a state of high alert across Assam and measures have been taken to foil any guerrilla attack linked to Independence Day, the news agency reported quoting an Assam police official.
Army, police and paramilitary troopers have been deployed to protect installations like road and railway bridges and oil facilities, besides crowded markets in Assam, the official informed.
ULFA have been boycotting India's Independence Day and Republic Day celebrations for years now. They have been carrying out terror attacks around August 15 every year to make their presence felt.
The top ULFA leadership is reportedly based in Bangladesh. ULFA is waging an insurgency since 1979 to create "sovereign" Assam carved out of India. New Delhi has accused ULFA leadership of maintaining close links with Pakistan's ISI to create disturbance in the country's Northeast.
The Indian government may enter into peace talks with ULFA, if the group drops its demand for "sovereignty". New Delhi has often raised with Dhaka the issue of the presence of Indian Insurgent Groups on the soil on Bangladesh including ULFA. However, Dhaka denies this charge.
During India-Bangladesh Home Secretary level talks here last week, New Delhi asked Dhaka initiate tough action on the IIGs from India's northeast who were using Bangladesh as a base for carrying out terror strikes in India.
During the meeting, both sides termed terrorism and extremism as common threats and decided to take quick action against the guerrillas and criminals taking shelter in each other's territory.
A security alert has also been sounded in India's Northeastern states of Tripura and Manipur as well. (end) dr.tg KUNA 072033 Aug 07NNNN