By IANS
Guwahati : Two people were killed and dozens of houses set ablaze in a village in Assam Thursday by a mob from the adjoining state of Nagaland, officials said. Local witnesses said that over 50 houses were set ablaze in three adjoining villages as well.
A police spokesman said a large group of heavily armed Nagas attacked Geleki village, bordering Nagaland, in eastern Assam's Sivasagar district, about 370 km from the state's main city Guwahati.
"The attack took place inside Assam territory and led to the death of two people," Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, Deputy Inspector General of Assam Police, told IANS.
The mob also burnt down at least 12 houses belonging to local Assamese people.
The immediate provocation for the raid was not immediately known.
But police and intelligence officials said the attackers were backed by militants of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN). "It appears the Nagas wanted to usurp the land and so they carried out the attack. Nagaland often claims some parts of Assam as their territory which, in fact, is not correct," another senior police official said.