Police today recovered a powerful Chinese-made grenade from near a
petrol pump in Haflong, the headquarters of troubled Dima Hasao district
in Assam. Police said the grenade was recovered at about 0730
hrs. Soon the area was cordoned off by the security forces. Members of
the Army s bomb defusing squad defused the explosive. Police said
it was yet to be identified who had planted it. A hunt was on to nab the
miscreants. The incident triggered fresh fear in the hill station
after two people were killed, four injured, 27 Dimasa houses torched
and a goods train targeted in the southern Assam district since October
5. Hill Tiger Force (HTF), a non-Dimasa tribal militant outfit,
had claimed responsibility for the shoot-outs and torching of houses.
Ten people have been arrested in connection with the incidents so far,
the officials said. IGP (law and order) of Assam police L R
Bishnoi is currently on a visit to take stock of the situation in Dima
Hasao district. He said security forces had been deployed in at least 27
sensitive villages dominated by Dimasas. Four additional companies of
Assam police battalions had been rushed to the district, the sources
added.