By IANS
Guwahati : At least four policemen were killed and two others seriously wounded Sunday in an ambush by tribal separatists in Assam, officials said.
A police spokesman said heavily armed militants suspected to be from the outlawed Karbi Longri National Liberation Front (KLNLF) attacked a vehicle carrying six policemen near village Koilapahar in Karbi Anglong district, about 330 km east of Assam's main city of Guwahati.
"The KLNLF militants hiding on a hilltop fired at the vehicle with automatic weapons, killing four policemen on the spot and wounding two others," police official A. Das told IANS.
The two injured were shifted to a hospital. "The police team was returning to the district headquarters after investigating a case," the official said.
The rebels later decamped with the weapons of the dead policemen.
"The militants were in an advantageous position and the policemen were caught by surprise and could not retaliate," the official added.
The KLNLF is a rag-tag rebel group active in Karbi Anglong and fighting for an independent homeland for the Karbi tribe in the region.
The group has, of late, been involved in kidnappings and extortions from nearby tea plantations.
Police and paramilitary troopers have since launched a hunt to track down the rebels.