Gogoi asks DGP to beef up security after grenade blast

Even as public protests are rife against outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom in eastern Assam district of Tinsukia over deaths of three innocent children in a freak grenade explosion on the afternoon of January 9, in a village near the oil refinery town of Digboi, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday directed the state police chief to gear up vigil and beef security measures.

The police had initially stated that the three unsuspecting children had died when the object they were playing with exploded. The object had been found and brought home by their father, a deaf and dumb person, from a grazing field near the village without realising what it was.

Gogoi has directed the director general of state police J N Chaudhuri to augment security and launch a vigorous manhunt to nab the culprits behind the tragic incident.

The chief minister also instructed the DGP to take all possible measures to foil the sinister designs of the anti-national forces and to ensure that no such incidents recur in the future.

Gogoi also asked the DGP to beef up security in the state in view of the forthcoming Republic Day so that the militants and anti-India forces can't carry out sabotage in the run up.

Earlier, Gogoi had stated there were reasons to believe that the anti-talks faction of the outlawed ULFA was responsible for the incident though the banned outfit stated that it was no way involved in the incident of grenade explosion in which three children died.

It said neither it was involved nor the explosives substances involved belonged to it.

The ULFA in a statement issued to the media stated that there were forces sponsored by 'colonial' Indian security agencies which were hatching designs to defame it.