Separatist guerrillas killed four soldiers and a driver in an attack on a convoy carrying election officials and ballot boxes in India's rebel-hit north-eastern state of Assam, a police officer said today.
The militants triggered a bomb at Sonari in the state's Sibsagar district as troops escorted poll officials and ballot boxes from a remote polling station to a counting centre late last night after elections in the state, the officer said.
Assam was one of four Indian states that went to the polls yesterday along with a federally administered territory to elect new legislative assemblies.
Three Border Security Force soldiers, an officer and a civilian driver were killed, the officer said. Sonari lies some 400 kmfrom the state capital of Dispur.
"The militants opened fire from automatic weapons after bombing the convoy," the officer said. "The vehicle carrying the soldiers was destroyed but the election officials and the ballot boxes were safe."
Separatist groups led by the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) fiercely opposed the elections in the tea-growing and oil-rich state. Six people died in election-related violence yesterday. The voting results are due on Sunday.
ULFA, formed in 1979 and the main rebel group in the state, accuses the federal government of exploiting Assam's resources while neglecting its economy.