Guwahati, June 14: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a chargesheet against three individuals associated with the banned insurgent group United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) for their alleged involvement in planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Guwahati during the 2024 Independence Day celebrations.

The accused — Paresh Baruah, Abhijit Gogoi, and Jahnu Boruah — have been charged under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UA(P) Act), and the Explosive Substances Act.

The charges were filed on Friday after an extensive investigation into the terror plot aimed at destabilising the region and spreading panic among the public, the NIA said in a statement on Saturday.

According to the NIA, the trio was linked to an IED planted at Dispur Last Gate, Guwahati, in what was part of a larger ULFA-I conspiracy to execute multiple IED blasts across Assam.

The group aimed to disrupt Independence Day celebrations and instil fear through coordinated acts of terror.

“The trio were found linked with the IED planted by the terror outfit at Dispur Last Gate, Guwahati, Assam, as part of the ULFA (I) conspiracy to trigger multiple IED blasts across Assam, including at Dispur Last Gate, to disrupt the I-Day celebrations last year,” the NIA stated.

The NIA had taken over the case in September 2024. Its investigation found that the planted IEDs were intended to cause death, injuries, and property damage, with the broader objective of threatening India’s unity, integrity, security, and sovereignty.

“The IEDs had been planted to cause death/injuries to persons and/or loss/damage/destruction to property, with the intent to threaten the unity, integrity, security and sovereignty of India, and to strike terror among the people of the country,” the NIA added.

Further investigations into the case are currently ongoing.

The 2024 Independence Day celebrations in Assam were clouded by serious security concerns after ULFA-I sent emails to several media outlets in the state, claiming to have planted bombs in 24 different locations.

The emails provided the precise locations of 19 IEDs, while details for the remaining five were not disclosed.

As a precaution, security forces and police personnel who were previously deployed for parades and ceremonial duties were reassigned to assist in the search for explosives.

Bomb disposal squads were also rushed to various sites to detect and neutralise the threats.

ULFA-I claimed in its emails that the devices would not detonate due to a “technical fault” and even appealed to the public to help locate them.

However, security agencies took no chances and launched an intensive operation across the state.

The Assam Police recovered 11 IEDs from multiple locations.

Among them, four explosive devices were found in high-risk areas of Guwahati, including Pan Bazar, Dispur, Gandhi Mandap, and Satgaon.

None of the IEDs detonated, and no injuries were reported.

On September 21, 2024, the Assam Police and NIA jointly arrested 15 individuals, including three women, from various locations across the state in connection with the planting of IEDs.

Later in December, the agency arrested a key ULFA-I operative tied to the same case.

Tel Aviv, June 14: Tensions in the Middle East escalated further early on Saturday as Iran launched a fresh wave of missile attacks on Israel, according to reports from Iranian state television.

The renewed offensive comes amid a period of heightened hostilities between the two nations.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed the attack, stating that a barrage of projectiles had been launched toward Israeli territory.

In a brief statement, the military said, “Another barrage has been fired towards Israel,” though the total number of missiles and specific areas targeted were not immediately disclosed.

In central Israel, at least 10 civilians sustained injuries after an Iranian missile reportedly struck near residential areas. Emergency services responded swiftly to treat the wounded and assess the extent of the damage.

The Israeli government has placed the country on heightened alert, with residents in several regions advised to stay in protected areas.

Meanwhile, the United States military has intervened to assist Israel’s air defence systems. According to two US officials speaking on condition of anonymity, American forces successfully intercepted multiple Iranian missiles that were en route to Israel.

However, the officials did not specify the method of interception or whether it was conducted by fighter jets, missile defence systems, or naval assets.

Earlier nearly 100 missiles were launched from Iran toward central and northern Israel in two massive barrages, causing significant damage and injuring 41 people, according to the Israeli military and the national emergency service, Magen David Adom (MDA).

The MDA reported two people critically injured, two moderately, four lightly-moderately, while the remaining individuals suffered light injuries or trauma-related symptoms, including panic attacks.

Following the launches, air defence sirens were activated, sending millions of residents to protected rooms and shelters for more than an hour.

IDF spokesman Effie Defrin said that most missiles were intercepted by the air defence system or did not reach their target. He noted that the injuries reported occurred inside buildings, with several caused by shrapnel from intercepted missiles.

United Nations, June 14: Even as Iran was raining missiles on Israel in retaliation for the attack on its nuclear facilities and leaders, the Security Council heard International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) top official warn that attacks on nuclear installations could have “grave consequences”.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said, “Any military action that jeopardises the safety and security of nuclear facilities risks grave consequences for the people of Iran, the region, and beyond.”

The IAEA General Council has declared that military attacks on nuclear facilities violate the UN Charter and international law, he said.

UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo told the Council Emergency session convened at the request of Iran, “We must at all costs avoid a growing conflagration which would have enormous global consequences”.

She said that Israel attacked Iran as “significant diplomatic developments” were afoot with talks between Washington and Tehran set to resume in Oman on Sunday. Iran has pulled out of the negotiations.

DiCarlo said, “A peaceful resolution through negotiations remains the best means to ensure the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme”.

A senior US State Department official, McCoy Pitt, said the US was still willing to negotiate.

“We seek a secure peace”, he said. “As President Trump said, the violence should come to an end, and Iran should make a deal so that there is ‘no more death, no more destruction’. The United States will continue to seek a diplomatic resolution that ensures Iran will never acquire a nuclear weapon or pose a threat to stability in the Middle East”, he said.

“Iran’s leadership would be wise to negotiate at this time”, he added.

During US President Donald Trump’s first term, he pulled out of an international agreement to stop Iran’s programme to produce materials for a nuclear bomb in return for removing some international sanctions.

However, recently he tried to work out a new agreement with Tehran, and those efforts have now been blocked by Israel’s attack on Iran.

Iran’s Permanent Representative Amir Saeid Iravani, said Israel’s attack was meant “to kill diplomacy, to sabotage negotiations, and to drag the region into wider conflict”.

He also accused Washington of being complicit in the Israeli attack.

Pitt denied that the US was involved in the attack, although it had been informed of it in advance.

Israel’s Permanent Representative Danny Danon defended his country’s action, calling it “an act of national preservation”.

He displayed a picture of a countdown clock in Tehran that was timed to its plan to annihilate Israel.

Israel’s mission was to ”neutralise the (Iranian) regime’s ability to follow through on its repeated public promise to destroy the State of Israel”, he said.

Danon said the strikes in Iran were precise and targeted the nuclear facilities.