ULFA (I) claims responsibility of Sivasagar blast

ULFA (I) has claimed responsibility for the grenade attack that had killed two people in Sibsagar district's Demow Chariali on Thursday.

Eight people were picked up for questioning on Friday in connection with the incident, and three of them were arrested on Saturday. The trio also includes an employee of a petrol pump in Demow, police said.

A grenade had exploded at a shop killing a customer, Anup Gupta, and the shop owner, Kamal Agarwal.

It may be noted that security has been beefed up in Guwahati following the attack and reports of kidnappings in different parts of the state have also started to come to light.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Ranjan Bhuyan said 17 suspected ULFA (I) linkmen have been picked up for interrogation from different parts of the city and all of them have previous criminal records and are accused of sheltering militants.

ULFA (I) Assistant Secretary Publicity and Information Arunodoy Asom, in a statement, said, "We take responsibility for Thursday's explosion and sooner or later stern action will be taken against those who betray us. But our target was not the customer Anup Gupta but the owner of the shop."

The banned outfit expressed condolences to Gupta's family, saying "our hearts go out to them". It however, denied any role in the killings of five people at Dhola in Tinsukia district on November 1, as claimed by the Assam Police and the National Investigation Agency (NIA).