In Assam, as many as 18 people were gunned down by the anti-talk faction of the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) militants in a series of attacks in Sonitpur, Udalguri and Baksa districts last evening. Police said heavily armed militants way-laid a bus in remote Guimari area in Sonitpur district, bordering Arunachal Pradesh and fired indiscriminately on the passengers after lining them up. Eight passengers, all of them employees of the Arunachal Pradesh Government, died on the spot in the shoot out. Six others were injured seriously in the incident. The bus was proceeding to Seizosa in Arunachal Pradesh from Tezpur. Five more Hindi-speaking people, including a woman, were shot dead by the militants near Belsi Railway Station under Missamari Police Station while another shot dead at Dhekiajuli in the same district. Two more people were gunned down at Hugrajuli in Baksa district. In yet another attack, the militants gunned down two more persons at Majbat in Udalguri district. Two seriously injured have been rushed to Mongoldoi Civil Hospital. Meanwhile, a red alert have been sounded in the Bodoland Territorial Council districts in view of the increased violence by the underground outfit. Security agencies have launched a massive search operation to apprehend the culprits in and around the places of attacks.