Three persons were killed and nine others including five policemen injured in a bomb explosion triggered by the banned United Liberation Front of Asom in front of the main police station at Jorhat town in Upper Assam at around 6-45 pm on Tuesday evening.

Those killed were identified as Pranjal Gogoi, a district-level youth Congress leader, Debojit Bora and Ajit Bora, an ex-Army man. The injured included two Assam Police sub-inspectors, two constables, one home guard and three civilians.

All the injured were rushed to the government civil hospital in Jorhat, the 200-year-old tea town of upper Assam.

The improvised explosive device was planted on a bicycle parked near a pan shop in front of Jorhat district police station located on Mahatma Gandhi road in the town, hat is located about 310 km to the east of Guwahati.

The banned ULFA militants managed to plant the explosive device despite heavy checking by police and paramilitary force personnel in the town. Thirty-three persons were injured in three separate explosions triggered by the ULFA in the state on Sunday braving mounted vigil by security forces in the run up to the forthcoming Independence Day celebrations.