Kokrajhar, March 13: Police today shot dead four persons in trying to intervene in the feud between the National Democratic Front of Boroland and a rival militant group that has long been disbanded but continues to exist without a name.

The superintendent of police of Chirang district, Pradip Pujari, said a mob led by NDFB rebels attacked a camp housing members of the erstwhile Bodo Liberation Tigers at Bengtol this morning, leaving the security personnel that was trailing them with no option but to open fire.

Gita Narzary, 25, and Baburam Narzary, 37, died instantly and two more succumbed to bullet injuries at Bongaigaon Civil Hospital. The other two victims were Munin Borgoyary, 17, and Birjon Narzary, 20.

The chain of events this morning began with a team from the police and civil administration visiting Bengtol to shut down an “unauthorised” camp of the NDFB and shift its inmates to one of the outfit’s designated camps, as agreed to in the outfit’s ceasefire agreement with the government.

A little while later, a group of people believed to be sympathisers of the NDFB, gathered there and extracted a written assurance from the police that the inmates of the camp “would not be touched”. As the police and civilian officials, including additional deputy commissioner Binode Deka, were returning, they noticed the crowd following them.

“By the time we reached the camp housing ex-BLT members, the crowd went berserk. Some of them entered the camp and started assaulting the inmates. They also vandalised the camp and set it ablaze. We had to open fire to save the ex-BLT men,” the officer said.

The district police chief said the security personnel were asked to fire only in the air. “How bullets struck some people in the group will be investigated.”

Eight former BLT members and the deputy SP (headquarters), Santanu Kumar Dutta, were injured in the mob attack. Four persons in the mob — Arjun Basumatary, Swmdwn Narzary, Ranjit Basumatary and Binoy Basumatary — were hospitalised.

There were 18 former BLT members in the camp when the incident occurred. The distance between the unauthorised NDFB camp and the one where former BLT members stay is only about 500 metres.

The intensity of the rivalry between the NDFB and former BLT members has grown in recent weeks. Six persons were injured and several houses and vehicles were damaged in clashes yesterday, triggered by an attack on an NDFB camp the previous day.

The army is on standby and prohibitory orders are in force in parts of the Bodoland area.

The president of the All Bodo Students’ Union, Rwn Gwra Narzary, accused the government of remaining a spectator to the conflict between the NDFB and former members of the BLT, which ceased to officially exist after its leaders signed the accord leading to the creation of the Bodoland Territorial Council.

The Hagrama Mohilary-led Bodoland People’s Front is in charge of the council.

“This is very unfortunate. We have every reason to suspect that the state government has had a role in the incidents,” Narzary said in a statement.

The All Boro Peace Forum declared a 12-hour statewide bandh on Saturday in protest against the police firing in Bengtol.