Hundreds of Indian villagers took to the streets to denounce the killings of four Muslim traders whose bodies were found on Sunday. Police in the northeastern state of Assam came to the scene to disperse the protesters with batons and rubber bullets.

A court official, Magistrate Vinod Seshan, gave details of the dispersal in Baksa district. He told the Associated Press that angry villagers ignored a curfew and attacked a police officer.

Like Us on Facebook

The protesters eventually left the streets and went back to their homes. Army soldiers and paramilitary troops remained in the area to maintain order.

The traders went missing on Friday and were reported to have been kidnapped. It is not yet clear who was behind the abductions and killings.

Assam has been the scene of ethnic and communal conflict between the Bodo tribe and Muslims for decades.

In May, Bodo militants attacked Muslims, setting fire to their homes and shooting civilians. Forty-five people died in the violence, which was the worst to hit the region in two years. Media reports said non-Bodo organizations accused Bodos of targeting Muslims because they did not support a Bodo candidate in the general elections.

In 2012, clashes between Bodos and Muslims left at least 100 people dead.

Bodos, who have been fighting for separatist state, accuse Muslims of coming to India illegally from Bangladesh and encroaching on Bodo land in Assam.

Police suspect that a faction of the separatist group National Democratic Front of Bodoland was responsible for Friday's kidnappings.

But the group denied it was involved in the abductions. It issued a statement saying local disputes led to the kidnappings.

The National Democratic Front of Bodoland has three factions.

Two of them are engaged in negotiations with the government for a peaceful solution to the conflict. But one faction is still leading an armed struggle in the region. 

TagsIndia ethnic violence, Bodos, Indian Muslims, National Democratic Front of the Bodoland