Separatist rebels in India's northeastern state of Assam shot dead three of their former comrades who had surrendered to the authorities, police said Wednesday.
A police spokesman said heavily armed members of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) attacked a vehicle carrying four surrendered ULFA militants late Tuesday night in western Assams Nalbari district.
"The surrendered militants were returning from their farm when a group of ULFA rebels ambushed their vehicle and fired indiscriminately with automatic weapons, killing three on the spot and seriously injuring another", the spokesman told AFP by telephone from Nalbari.
The militants later escaped under the cover of darkness.
The surrendered militants, after laying down their arms last year, had set up a farm with government funding as part of a special rehabilitation package.
More than 3,000 ULFA militants have surrendered in the past three years, during which period at least 50 have been shot dead -- GUWAHATI (AFP)
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