Guwahati, Mar 16: Four persons, including a woman, were killed and 53 others injured when the banned ULFA triggered a powerful blast during a cultural function of tribals in Assam's Dhemaji district. The explosion took place on Saturday night at Murkongselek along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border when about 15,000 Mising tribal community people had gathered at an open field to celebrate a function, called "Ali Aye Lrigan", Dhemaji Deputy Commissioner Dibakar Mishra told news Agencies.

Significantly, the ULFA is observing the raising day of its army wing on Sunday. Confirming that the organisers of the event did not formally apply for permission, the DC said the militants could have targeted the on duty Assam Police Battalion personnel, four of whom were seriously injured in the attack. Murkongselek is a remote area having very poor road communication, about 550 km away from Guwahati. Mishra said the militants escaped into the nearby dense jungle but the agitated crowd lynched one Raju Doley (16) taking him to be an insurgent.

The police have launched a massive manhunt to nab the culprits. The injured have been taken by a special ferry across the river Brahmaputra to be admitted to the Assam Medical College hospital in Dibrugarh. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has announced an ex-gratia of Rs three lakh each to the relatives of the dead and Rs 5,000 each to the injured. The ULFA was formed on April 7, 1979 and raised its army on March 16, 1980.