Normendu Langthasa, son of Assam's Veterinary Minister G C Langthasa, was shot dead in the hill town of Haflong on Monday afternoon by unidentified men, forcing the district administration of North Cachar Hills district to impose curfew.

Normendu, 35, was the second son of G C Langthasa. His elder brother Purnendu is the chief executive member of the NC Hills Autonomous District Council, an administrative body meant exclusively for two hill districts of the state.

Preliminary reports said Normendu, an employee of the forest department, was shot at point blank range in front of the St. Mary's Convent School, where he had gone to pick up his son after trouble broke out in town early in the morning.

The NC Hills district has been tense whole of last month in the wake of an ethnic clash between two tribes, the Dimasas and the Hmars. The Langthasas are a leading a Dimasa family.

First reports from Haflong, some 300 km from Assam's capital Guwahati said, Phanilal Liangjao, an accountant at the district forest office and a Hmar was shot dead in the office around 10.25 pm. As rumours of a clash spread, shops, banks and business establishments downed shutters in the town.

Nornendu went to the school to pick up his son and was shot dead in front of the school gate.

G C Langthasa, a veteran politician, has left Guwahati for Haflong by road. The road journey to Haflong from Guwahati takes at least eight hours.