Eight burnt bodies were found on Saturday from two Bodo villages taking the toll in the ongoing group clash to 10 in Udalguri district where a shoot-at-sight order was on, official sources said.
The bodies were found from Sonaripara and Jhargaon villages, under Udalguri police station, which were attacked in the wee hours by illegal Bangladeshi migrants with bows and arrows. Several houses of a neighbouring village were also torched, the sources said.
On Friday, two bodies were found from a village under Rowta police station even as incidents of arson and looting in neighbouring Darrang district forced the administration to impose curfew in Dalgaon and Dhola on Friday and in Udalguri on Saturday, they said.
Meanwhile, media personnel saw a Pakistani flag atop a pole in Sonaripara village and took photographs of it. Local television channels also ran footage of the foreign flag.
Officials and security forces, however, denied any knowledge of the presence of that flag.
Over 25 serious burn injury victims were shifted to the Guwahati Medical College Hospital, while others were admitted to local hospitals.
The army had been deployed to assist the district administration and additional security forces were rushed there to maintain peace. The army men also flag-marched in various areas.
Fleeing their homes in panic, thousands of Bodos have taken shelter in relief camps set up by the administration in five places, the sources added.
The state cabinet on Saturday met in Guwahati to review the situation in Udalguri and Darrang districts. Home Minister Rockybul Hussain has rushed to the disturbed areas.
Trouble started on Thursday after a group of people belonging to the minority community allegedly stole some cattle from the Bodo-dominated Mohanpur village. The villagers attacked them and clashes followed.
The violence then spread to Darrang district, where over 30 houses were burnt down and several injured at Besimari and Balabari villages, under Dalgaon police station prompting the police to fire in the air to disperse a marauding mob and the district administration to impose indefinite curfew.
