Guwahati, July 24 (IANS) Assam Police have beefed up security arrangements across the state ahead of Independence Day celebration as a precautionary measure, officials said on Thursday.

A senior police official said, “We have stepped up vigilance on national highways to avert any untoward incident.”

Earlier in the month, ULFA-I claimed that its Eastern headquarters in Myanmar had been targeted by the Indian Army with drones in the early hours – a claim denied by the Army.

The proscribed outfit in a press statement claimed that in these cross-border strikes, their 19 cadres were killed and another 19 were injured.

The outlawed group ULFA-I tried to explode bombs at least 12 places in Guwahati during the celebration of Independence Day in the previous year. The explosions could not occur due to technical failure, and security forces later recovered the explosives.

Recently, the NIA arrested two accused in connection with the recovery of an IED planted by the ULFA-I terror group at Dispur Last Gate, Guwahati, as part of a conspiracy to carry out multiple blasts in Assam on Independence Day in 2024.

Bhargob Gogoi and Sumu Gogoi, both residents of Dibrugarh district of Assam, were involved in the conspiracy orchestrated by the proscribed terrorist organisation to strike terror and threaten the sovereignty, security, and integrity of the nation, said the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

With their arrest, the total number of accused arrested in the conspiracy case has gone up to three.

The NIA, which took over the investigation into the case from Dispur police in September last year, had last month charge-sheeted three accused in the case under various sections of the BNS, UA(P) Act and the Explosives Substance Act.

The three charge-sheeted accused included Paresh Baruah alias Paresh Asom alias Kamruj Zaman Khan alias Nur-uz-Zaman alias Zaman Bhai alias Pradip alias Paban Baruah, chairman and SS Commander-in-Chief of the proscribed terrorist groups ULFA-I.

The other two accused named in the charge sheet were Abhijit Gogoi alias Aishang Asom alias Rumel Asom alias Dhanajoy Moran and Jahnu Boruah alias Arnob Asom alias Huntu.

–IANS

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