Three bombs recovered from Guwahati-bound passenger bus

GUWAHATI: City Police added a feather to their cap by recovering three crude bombs and averting possible explosions in Guwahati. The bombs were recovered from a Guwahati-bound passenger bus at the Jalukbari point on Thursday.

The passenger bus, which was carrying at least 60 passengers, was coming from Udalguri town in Udalguri district and was scheduled to reach Machkhowa bus stand around 2pm. Though no one was arrested, police suspect that two women were carrying the bombs.

"On the basis of a tip-off, we launched a search operation and recovered the crude bombs from the bus. The bombs, which weighed around 2.5kg, were prepared manually with high-quality explosives. However, these explosives can't be triggered through remote control," said a police official. The bomb squad diffused the bombs later.

Police suspect that two women, believed to be in their twenties, who boarded the bus at Bhebarghat in Mangaldai in Darrang district, were carrying the bombs. "They hid the bombs in a jute bag wrapped in polythene packets under a passenger seat. We believe the women were supposed to hand over the bombs to someone here. During checking, they managed to flee taking advantage of the commotion caused by the recovery of the bombs. A search operation is on to nab them," said the policeman. He added that the two women belonged to some tribal community.

"No extremist element is involved in the incident. Some anti-social elements must have brought the bombs here," said senior superintendent of city police, A P Tiwari.

This is the third consecutive time in the last three days that police have seized explosives in and around Guwahati. On Wednesday, city police seized and diffused one IED from Dudhnoi. Prior to this, Kamrup police recovered another crude bomb weighing 1.5kg from Hajo area near the city.

~toi