(Recasts, adds arrest of farm leader, byline)

By Raymond Colitt

BRASILIA, May 6 (Reuters) - Brazil's government dispatched police reinforcements to the country's remote north on Tuesday and arrested a local farm leader after gunmen shot and wounded 10 Indians in a land conflict.

The dispute began in April when police tried to evict rice farmers from an Indian reservation in Roraima, Brazil's northernmost state. But farmers who claim the same land have resisted by blocking roads, blowing up bridges and reportedly hiring gunmen.

Ten Indians were wounded by gunfire on Monday night, three badly. Indians said gunmen attacked them and one farmer said the Indians invaded his property.

Television pictures showed hooded gunmen on motorbikes firing shotguns and throwing a homemade explosive.

The government ordered the first of 300 troops of the national security force and federal police to set up camp in the reservation, a police spokesman said.

Police arrested Paulo Cesar Quartiero, head of the rice farmers, on charges of illegal possession of arms, racketeering and attempted murder, the head of the federal police told local media late on Tuesday.

Monday's standoff reportedly took place on Quartiero's property.

The Supreme Court authorized the troop deployment, the Justice Ministry said. The court is expected to decide in coming weeks whether to ratify or annul the reservation.

Justice Minister Tarso Genro visited the region on Tuesday to oversee the operation.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva created the reservation three years ago, citing the constitutional right of Indians to inhabit their ancestral lands. Business leaders say Indians are an obstacle to economic development. The governor of Roraima said on Tuesday that the 4.2-million-acre (1.7-million-hectare) reserve was too big for the 17,000 Indians inhabiting it.

(Reporting by Raymond Colitt, editing by Alan Elsner)

AlertNet news is provided by