Dimapur:
All the nine people shot dead and found piled up in a decomposed state in Dimapur in Nagaland, belonged to the Karbi tribe, the police said today.
Eight of the bodies are those of daily wage earners and one is a Karbi Students Association leader.
The first body that was identified yesterday was of a local student union leader from the Karbi tribe and was a resident of Assam's Karbi Anglong district, according to the police.
The nine decomposed bodies were found lying in a pile on top of each other with their hands tied to their backs and bullet injuries in their head. The victims were blindfolded and shot from close range, the police said.
Sources in the police suspect that these bodies could be of Karbi youth who were kidnapped in Nagaland in December following the tension over the killing of four Naga villagers in Karbi Anglong. Seven people were killed in a shootout in Karbi Anglong on December 27. Among them were the four Naga villagers.
The Nagaland government has ordered a high-level enquiry into the killings.
In Karbi Anglong, seven companies of the Central Reserve Police Force and other Assam Police battalions have been deployed in a bid to maintain peace.