Women bombers sneak into Guwahati: police

A group of women militant bombers have managed to sneak into Assam's main city of Guwahati to strike terror ahead of Independence Day, officials said Thursday.

Women explosives experts from both the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) have entered Guwahati over the past few days with a definite plan to carry out bombings in the city.

"We have information that these women militants are experts in handling explosives and have probably entered Guwahati with a mission to strike ahead of Aug 15," city police spokesperson Debojit Deuri said.

A maximum alert has been sounded across Assam with intelligence inputs of militants trying to stage explosions and attacks on security forces in the run up to the Independence Day.

"There is no doubt that militants were desperately trying to create violence," the police official said.

The intelligence reports come at a time when five separatist guerrilla groups in the northeast called a 17-hour general strike to boycott the Independence Day.

The militant groups that called for a boycott of the Independence Day celebrations include ULFA, NDFB, the Kamatapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), fighting for a separate homeland comprising parts of Assam and West Bengal, the Manipur People's Liberation Front (MPLF), an umbrella group of several Manipuri rebel groups, and the Tripura People's Democratic Front (TPDF).

These groups are active in Assam, Manipur and Tripura.

As part of the boycott call Aug 15, the militant groups have called for a general strike from 1 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. that day.

Militant groups in the northeast have for years boycotted national events to protest New Delhi's rule over the region.

"We have deployed security forces in strength across the state," another senior police official said.

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