Eight migrant workers were killed by the unidentified militants in India's northeast state Manipur in two separate incidents, police said Tuesday.
A police spokesman was quoted the Indo-Asian News Service as saying that seven people were brought in a vehicle and shot dead by the roadside late Monday on the outskirts of the state capital Imphal. In another incident militants shot dead one more person.
"All those killed were non-Manipuri people and we suspect them to be Hindi-speakers, although their identities were not known so far," police said.
The victims could possibly be traders or even daily wage workers, police said.
No militant group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
"We don't know yet as to the motive behind the killings," police said.
This is the first time in Manipur that militants targeted Hindi-speakers. In the adjoining state of Assam, militants of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) have since long been engaged in attacks on Hindi-speaking migrant workers, killing up to 200 people in the last five years, the news service said.
There are 19 militant groups active in Manipur, with demands ranging from secession to greater autonomy, it said.
Source: Xinhua
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