Guwahati: Two jawans were injured and an Army vehicle was damaged when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), suspected to have been planted by militants of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), went off at Kakotibari in Sivasagar district on Saturday.

Inspector-General of Police (Special Branch) Khagen Sharma told The Hindu that an IED exploded around 1 p.m. when a convoy of seven vehicles was moving towards Mahmora.

Army sources said that there was no casualty but the last vehicle in the convoy came under the impact of the blast. Two jawans received minor injuries.

Mr. Sharma said that security forces have intensified operations in the North Cachar Hills district in search of militants who had ambushed a railway team on Friday killing 11 persons, including seven of the Railway Protection Special Force (RPSF). The police suspected `Black Widow,' the anti-talks faction of the Dimasa militant outfit, the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD), was behind the incident.

Bodies of the slain RPSF personnel were flown to Delhi on Saturday to be handed over to their families in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir. Earlier, a guard of honour was given to the deceased security personnel at the Guwahati railway station.

Assam Revenue Minister Bhumidhar Barman and Additional Chief Secretary C.K. Das visited the N.C. Hills district to enquire into Friday's ambush and take stock of the situation in other districts in the wake of the incident.

They also held a meeting with officials and employees of the N.F. Railway at Lumding divisional headquarters and assured that the Government would ensure full security to the railway employees and contractors engaged in the Lumding-Silchar guage conversion project by intensifying patrolling and adopting all possible measures.

Railway officials had reportedly told the Minister that if full security was not provided the work on the gauge conversion project would suffer.

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