At least four Hindi-speaking persons were shot dead and two others injured by outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) militants in Assam on Tuesday. Heavily-armed NDFB ultras fired from AK-47 rifles on a group of people near Naharani tea estate at Rangapara in central Assam's Sonitput district at 9.30 am killing the four, police said.

Besides the two women, a man and a boy of the same family were shot dead by the militants. The injured have been rushed admitted to a Tezpur hospital, while the police have launched a combing operation to apprehend the killers. Police believe the killing could be in retaliation against stepped up operation against the NDFB by security forces with over 30 militants killed in the last one month.