By IANS
Guwahati : Suspected tribal separatists Friday killed four people and seriously wounded one a day after kidnapping them, police officials said.
A police official said the five – all woodcutters – were abducted Thursday by suspected militants of the Jewel Gorlosa faction of the outlawed Dima Halam Daoga (DHD), popularly known as the Black Widow.
Four dead bodies were recovered from a thickly wooded area Friday near village Lalangsu in North Cachar Hills district, about 290 km south of Assam’s main city of Guwahati.
“There were five bodies lying in the forest and we found one of them alive but in a very critical condition. He has been shifted to a local hospital,” a senior police official said.
The Black Widow is a rebel group fighting for an independent homeland for the Dimasa tribe in the region.
The reason for the killings was not immediately known, the official said.
A splinter faction of the DHD is currently operating a ceasefire with New Delhi and holding peace talks.
Assam is currently witnessing a wave of violence – five people were killed Thursday in a powerful explosion on the Rajdhani Express, while a Bharatiya Janata Party leader was killed and a legislator of the main opposition Asom Gana Parishad, Padma Hazarika, was shot at and injured by unidentified militants.
“We are investigating the two cases of attacks on politicians. Our forces are on full alert,” Assam police chief R.N. Mathur said.