A specific Intelligence input on two militants of the United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) sneaking into the city to plant a bomb in a bus threw the Assam police into a tizzy on Wednesday.
The information comes in the midst of a massive security exercise for the scheduled visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the all-India conference of police chiefs here on Saturday and Sunday.
City Senior Superintendent of Police A.P. Tiwari issued an appeal to the public to be vigilant against any suspicious movement of people. Checking of buses and other vehicles was intensified across the city to foil any sabotage plan.
As the ULFA has been observing November 28 as ‘Protest Day’ since the outfit was banned on this day in 1990, and the Prime Minister’s visit and the conference of police chiefs coming just a day after, unprecedented security measures are in place.
The Prime Minister is scheduled to arrive here on Saturday afternoon on a three-day visit to Assam, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura. Mr. Modi will first attend a function of the Northeast Frontier Railway in Maligaon here to flag off the first train from Meghalaya and lay the foundation stone for the Bhairibi-Shairang railway line to be laid in Mizoram. He will also attend the Platinum Jubilee celebration of the Assam Tribune newspaper.
On Sunday, he will address the all-India conference of the DGPs and IGPs at the Assam Administrative Staff College, and later address BJP workers of Assam at the Sarusajai Stadium here.
State BJP president Siddhartha Bhattacharya told journalists that over 50,000 party workers and functionaries had been invited to Mr. Modi’s meeting.
Mr. Modi will then fly to Imphal to take part in the closing ceremony of the Sangai festival, the tourism festival of Manipur, and to lay the foundation stone of the National Sports University.
He will leave for Nagaland the same afternoon where he will inaugurate the Hornbill festival that coincides with the Statehood Day celebrations on December 1. The same day he is scheduled to visit Tripura to inaugurate the second and final unit of the 726 MW gas-based dual cycle power generation project at Palatana, before winding up his maiden visit to the region after assuming office.
