Army , paramilitary and police troops have intensified counter-insurgency operations in Assam in the wake of Tuesday 's tribal militant raid , which left at least 72 people killed in India 's remote tea-producing state , a defense spokesman said . `` The army is going out with full intensity , '' Lt. Col. Suneet Newton , an Indian military spokesman from Assam , told CNN Friday . Army-led joint operations have been scaled up in all troubled districts of the state , including Kokrahar and Sonitpur , where Bodo extremists carried out a series of deadly attacks on other tribal communities earlier this week , Newton said . Meantime , federal authorities have despatched 5,000 additional armed police to Assam , according to state Inspector General S.N . Singh . At least 72 people were killed in the assault by Bodo militants on Tuesday , Singh said . Separately , three people died when police fired at violent mobs trying to storm a police station in Sonitpur district on Wednesday , Singh told CNN . On Thursday , Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh termed the militant strike in Assam a `` massacre '' as he vowed to pursue what he called a `` time-bound action against terror . '' He also ruled out talks with outfits indulging in `` cold-blooded murder , '' according to a home ministry statement . As part of anti-insurgent efforts in Assam , India said it was also reaching out to its eastern neighbors for assistance . India 's seven northeastern states are wedged between China , Bhutan , Myanmar and Bangladesh , and reports have emerged that Bodo militants might be hiding out beyond Indian territory . Sushma Swaraj , India 's external-affairs minister , already has contacted the Bhutanese leadership `` at the highest level , '' spokesman Syed Akbaruddin told reporters in New Delhi . `` We are also working on having contacts with others who could possibly help us in this matter . Once that is completed , I will share those details with you , '' Akbaruddin said . India 's impoverished northeast region , where Assam is located , has a high concentration of extremist groups from different backgrounds with conflicting ethnic and political interests . Members of the Bodo tribe , an indigenous group , have fought for decades for political autonomy . They also have long-standing tensions with Muslim settlers in Assam . But on Tuesday they attacked members of non-Assamese tribal people who have lived in the state since before India got independence in 1947 , Inspector General S.N . Singh said .
India reaching out to neighboring nations for assistance as it pursues Kashmir . ` ` The army is going out with full intensity , '' an Indian military official tells CNN . At least 20 people were killed in the district by the militants on Tuesday . The minister has ruled out cooperation with outfits indulging in ` ` cold - blooded murder ''