Four dead in Indian religious riots

Strike supporters shut down transport and businesses in several Indian states, as protesters blocked roads, smashed vehicles and stopped trains.

They were protesting against the government of Indian Kashmir for reversing a decision to transfer forest land to a shrine trust in the Muslim-majority part of the state.

The government was forced to back down after Muslim protesters shut down Kashmir last week over the transfer of land, a move that has angered thousands of Hindus in India.

On Thursday, authorities imposed curfew in Indore, a town in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, where four people, including two Muslim residents were killed when Hindu groups clashed with them, forcing police to open fire and lob tear gas shells.

In Indore, police used loudspeakers to warn both communities to stay inside their homes and had detained dozens of people for rioting, a senior officer said.

A Muslim trader was seriously injured after he set himself on fire when a Hindu mob beat him up and ransacked his shop in a remote town in the state, police said.

Hindu protesters have demanded that land be allotted to Hindus for building temporary shelters built for pilgrims who visit Amarnath cave in Kashmir every year to pray by an ice stalagmite considered holy.

In the eastern state of Bihar, supporters of the Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who called the one-day strike, blocked trains and damaged vehicles in the capital Patna.

Carrying party flags and wearing saffron turbans, Hindu protesters shouted "Kashmir Hamara hai" (Kashmir is ours) as they forced traders to close shops.

The BJP, which is India's main opposition party, supports the demand for temporary shelters.

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