Agartala, Jul 20 (IANS): At least eight villagers were kidnapped by tribal guerrillas in Tripura, police said here Wednesday.

"Eleven heavily armed NLFT (National Liberation Front of Tripura) militants raided the East Chawmanu village in north Tripura Tuesday night and abducted 12 tribal villagers. Later, four captives managed to escape from the militants' clutches," police spokesman Tushar Kanti Das told IANS.

Before the abduction, the rebels beat up other villagers in the tribal dominated village, 90 km north of Tripura capital Agartala, Das said.

Das said the NLFT guerrillas led by Atharababu Halam came from neighbouring Bangladesh and kidnapped the innocent villagers, all belonging to Chakma and Tripuri communities.

"We are not sure whether the hostages were taken to Bangladesh or not. The state government has asked the Border Security Force to seal the border to prevent the rebels from taking the captives to Bangladesh."

Deputy Inspector General of Police T.B. Roy, along with reinforcements, has rushed to the village and launched a combing operation to locate the hostages and nab the guerrillas.

Since June 8, NLFT extremists in three separate incidents have kidnapped 22 people, all tribals.

The NLFT and the All Tripura Tiger Force, both banned by the Indian authorities, have set up their base in Bangladesh and get support from other separatist outfits in the northeast. They have been demanding secession of Tripura from India.