Fifteen people were arrested in raids conducted by Assam police and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) across nine districts for their alleged involvement in the planting of bombs by the banned Ulfa(I) at 24 locations in the state to disrupt Independence Day celebrations this year.

The militant outfit had disclosed the planting of bombs on August 15 and added that a technical snag had prevented them from going off between 6am and noon.

The outfit’s disclosure had sent the state administration into a tizzy as the bombs were planted amid tight security in the run-up to Independence Day. The police launched a search for the bombs at places disclosed by the rebel outfit.

In a statement on Sunday, the Assam police described the arrests as a “major breakthrough” while revealing there were three women among the 15 arrested from Tinsukia, Sadiya, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Lakhimpur, Guwahati, Nagaon, Nalbari and
Tamulpur.

Most of the arrests were made from Upper Assam districts, suggesting that the outfit continues to have a following in the region.

The police statement said the raids came after “prolonged intelligence gathering... in coordination with NIA” during the course of investigation of the “attempted sabotage activity”.

Incriminating facts have been unearthed after preliminary interrogation of the apprehended persons and more information about the conspiracy are expected to be known in due course of time, the police said.

Ulfa(I) is the only militant outfit that does not want to join the peace process without its core demand of sovereignty on the negotiation table.