It?s turning out to be an unending misery for the Hindi-speaking people in Assam, as United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the Karbi Longri Liberation Front (KNLF) have joined forces against them and killed four persons from two families in pre-dawn hours on Sunday at Rong Mong Ghat in Karbi district of the state.

With this, the ultra outfits have so far, slain 27 Hindi-speaking people, including women and children in three separate incidents in the hill district for the past one week.

The slain persons were identified as Mohan Kanu (35) and his wife Sheela Gupta (30), Nandalal Sharma (20) and Mahabir Sharma (22). Both families had small trading businesses in the area.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union home minister Shivraj Patil have condemned the killings. They said the Centre is in touch with the state government on action being taken and relief for the victims. Assuring the Assam government of full co-operation and assistance from the Centre, Patil said, ?The government would not be cowed down by such attacks and would continue to work for establishing peace and normalcy in the state.?

Meanwhile, main Opposition BJP, along with Janta Dal (U) on Sunday constituted a six-member committee of senior leaders to visit Assam.

The committee, led by BJP MP Kalraj Mishra, will take stock of the situation in the violence-affected areas of Assam, the BJP said in a joint statement. After visiting the areas, the committee will present its report to both BJP president Rajnath Singh and Janta Dal (U) president Sharad Yadav, it said.

Taking a serious view of the killings, particularly of Biharis in the state over the past one week, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday sought immediate intervention of the Centre to ensure their safety.

?It is the duty of the Congress government of Assam and the Centre to prevent such violence. I want the Centre?s UPA regime to intervene to prevent recurrence of such violence,? Kumar said.