At Least 15 More Killed in Religious Rioting in India

At least 15 people were killed Saturday in religious riots that spread across western India’s Gujarat state as thousands of Hindus and Muslims fought pitched battles in the city of Ahmedabad.

The deaths brought to 35 the total since riots began here Wednesday after Muslims stoned a Hindu religious procession.

Police said 10 people were killed in the city Saturday, three when police opened fire to disperse 5,000 rioters fighting each other with bricks and swords in a Muslim-dominated working-class section.

5 Burned Alive

Five people were burned alive after being hit by blazing rags doused in gasoline. One person was stoned to death and another died of stab wounds, police said. Twenty-six people were injured.

A man stabbed in a clash Friday died of his injuries, raising the toll in four days of rioting in the city to 31, police added.

The Press Trust of India said four other people were killed as sectarian violence flared in three other Gujarat towns during a statewide protest strike by militant Hindus.

The news agency said two people were killed when police opened fire at stone-throwing crowds in the coastal town of Broach and one person was stabbed to death in the town of Bhavnagar.

Muslims Evacuated

Saturday’s violence in Ahmedabad erupted in a district outside the curfew-bound ancient walled quarter, where thousands of police and para-military forces patrolled the streets.

Hundreds of Muslim women and children were evacuated from the district under police escort and taken to makeshift camps set up for their protection near a police station.

Witnesses said shots were fired during the fighting from a tenement block housing textile workers. About 50 stores were set ablaze as crowds of young Hindus and Muslims roamed the narrow streets, dodging police enforcing a curfew imposed on the suburb after violence earlier in the day.

Schools, Businesses Close

Schools, businesses and Hindu temples closed across Gujarat state as Hindus went on strike to protest Wednesday’s attack.

An inquiry was ordered on the riots, which erupted when a procession of 50,000 Hindus dragging a huge chariot through the walled city with an idol of the god Jagannath (Lord of the Universe) was stoned by Muslims.