Jorhat, Feb. 13: Two persons were killed in an "accidental" bomb blast at a businessman's residence at Sepon in Sivasagar district this morning.
Police said the blast occurred in the residential compound of brick-kiln owner and local businessman Biren Agarwalla around 8.45am today. The victims have been identified as Situ Agarwalla, 37, and Dimbeshwar Bhuyan, 44. Situ was Biren's nephew while Bhuyan was one of his drivers.
Deputy inspector-general of police (eastern range) Satyen Gogoi told The Telegraph this evening that preliminary inquiry has revealed that Bhuyan was a "close relative" of senior Ulfa (I) leader Bijoy Asom.
The site of the incident - Sepon-Sonari road - is nearly 35km from Sivasagar district headquarters and about 400km from Guwahati.
Police said the intensity of the blast was considerable, leading to mutilation of the bodies of the victims. The wall of a shop in the compound was also severely damaged. There is still no clue available on how the explosion exactly happened and what type of explosive device was used.
Sivasagar additional superintendent of police (headquarters) Jayanti Sarathi Bora, who rushed to the spot, ruled out the use of a grenade as there were no splinters or any craters on the ground. Bora said the Agarwalla family members did not notice anyone coming in or lobbing any object at the time of the blast.
"It appears one of the victims may have carried the bomb - suspected to be an IED or a timed device - which may have accidentally gone off, leading to Bhuyan's death and Situ was possibly was passing by at the time," Gogoi said. He added that traces of potassium nitrate have been found at the site, which indicates an IED blast.
The DIG said going by the nature of injuries of the deceased it is clear that one of the victims was carrying the bomb and Bhuyan came under suspicion as he is related to Bijoy Asom.
"Whether Bhuyan had brought a bomb to Agarwalla's residence or had taken it out after storing inside the compound and whether Biren knew about his driver's relations with the Ulfa (I) leader is being investigated," Gogoi said.
He said Biren has told the police he had received an extortion demand of Rs 5 lakh from Ulfa (I) two years back but had not paid up.
Sivasagar deputy commissioner Virendra Mittal told this correspondent that Rs 5 lakh would be paid to the next of kin of the deceased according to the procedure of the government for giving financial aid to those killed in extremist violence, provided the inquiry finds the duo innocent.
Since the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Assam in November last year, Ulfa (I) had made its presence felt in Upper Assam by gunning down traders and triggering several blasts in Tinuskia and Dibrugarh districts, leading to five deaths.
The outfit had issued extortion notices to businessmen, contractors and planters in Upper Assam and also lost a few of its cadres in an encounter with security forces.
Hours before the Republic Day functions this year, two grenades had exploded in Digboi (Tinsukia district) and another was recovered from the outskirts of Jorhat.
