Agartala: Extremists butchered 21 non- tribals, including eight children and six women, kidnapped two and injured six others, besides setting ablaze houses, in two separate incidents in Tripura early on May 7.

Members of the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF), accompanied by 40 tribal collaborators raided Satchhari, a border village in West Tripura district in the jurisdiction of Sidhai police station in the early hours and set fire to 10 houses before opening fire, DIG (Range), A K Shukla said after a visit.

As the villagers began fleeing, the extremists, who had entered the village from Bangladesh territory, opened fired and used sharp weapons killing 17 non-tribals on the spot, Shukla said.

Two others died of their injuries at the G B Hospital at Agartala.

The ATTF also kidnapped one person.

In a second incident, a group of 10 suspected members of the banned National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) shot dead a couple, Nilimesh Pal and his wife Alpana at Radhanagar village under Kumarghat police station of North Tripura district in the wee hours, the police said.

The ultras kidnapped Mintu, younger brother of Nilimesh, on their way back to Bangladesh.

The police and paramilitary forces have launched searches for the two kidnapped, while the BSF (Border Security Force) has been alerted.

PTI