Security lapse led to Guwahati blast: Gogoi

Mariani, Assam: Admitting that “security lapse” had led to the blast in Guwahati that left 15 people injured, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said the Paresh Barua-led Ulfa (Independent) was responsible for the act. The Ulfa (I) had carried out the blasts with the “help of outside agencies” in Paltanbazar area of the city, he said at a sidelines of a function in Mariani.[caption id=“attachment_993297” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Security personnel cordon off an area after a grenade blast near Paltan Bazar in Guwahati on Sunday. PTI[/caption] Gogoi said there “must have been some security lapse otherwise yesterday’s blast would not have taken place”. “These outside agencies do not want development in the state and as such they are pressuring the insurgent outfits active in the state to carry out such blasts,” he said. “If there is development in Assam, the problem of unemployment will end and youth of Assam will not join any insurgent outfit. As a result, these outside forces will lose ground,” the chief minister said. He said a high-level security meeting will be held this evening and directed the officials to take necessary steps to prevent further outbreak of such incidents. Referring to AGP and BJP’s allegation of the state government having failed to check violence, the chief minister said that during NDA’s rule, 410 people had died in blasts in the state but in recent years only 52 people have died. “Moreover, it was during the AGP’s rule in the state that the dangerous secret killings had taken place,” Gogoi said. The blasts in the Paltanbazar area of Guwahati was the third incident within in a week with the first in Lakhimpur and the other at Bokoliaghat in Karbi Anglong district. PTI