5 soldiers abducted in Assam found dead

A police spokesman said the bodies of the five soldiers were recovered Monday from a densely forested area in the neighbouring state of Arunachal Pradesh, about 320km east of Assams main city of Guwahati.

"A group of woodcutters spotted the dead bodies and it was later confirmed they were the five soldiers who were kidnapped earlier in the week," George Basumatary, a senior Assam government official, told AFP.

Police said six people, including the five soldiers, were abducted by a group of unidentified gunmen May 21 from a village in northern Assam's Udalguri district, bordering Bhutan.

"The dead body of the lone civilian who was kidnapped along with the soldiers was recovered from a nearby village the following morning," a police official said.

The soldiers guard the unfenced border with the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan to prevent the movement of separatists in Assam.

The only rebel group active in the area from where the soldiers were kidnapped is the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland, which is fighting for an independent homeland for the Bodo tribe.

The group, which currently is observing a ceasefire with the government, denied involvement in the deaths.

More than a dozen militant groups, whose demands range from greater autonomy to secession, operate in Assam where at least 15,000 people have lost their lives to the insurgency since 1979.