GUWAHATI: Police say rioters clashing over land rights have burned down dozens of homes in northeast India, while some 50,000 villagers are sheltering in camps for protection.    

Assam Police Chief JN Choudhury says 21 bodies hacked with machetes and left in the jungle or by the road or riverside have been found since the violence erupted Friday between the region’s ethnic Bodo community and Muslim settlers in the state's western district of Kokrajha.

Local police inspector general SN Singh said Tuesday that some 5,000 troops have been deployed with a mandate to shoot suspected rioters on sight.

Some 80 homes were burned overnight as the violence spread to Dhubri and Chirang districts.

No one was injured in the fires as the residents had fled to government shelters.