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Fourteen Die In Riots In Northern Indian City
KANPUR, India, March 18 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Five people died in clashes between the police and violent mobs on Sunday in the northern Indian town of Kanpur, raising the death toll to 14 in the last three days, officials said.
In addition, 36 people have been injured and 160 arrested as approximately 200 shops have also been gutted in riots in Kanpur, 300 miles east of the capital, New Delhi.
Frenzied Hindu mobs damaged six mosques in the city, police said.
Deputy Inspector General of Police Dilip Trivedi said an 18-year-old boy died when police fired shots to contain a rampaging mob that was hurling crude bombs.
"Bombs were being hurled at the police and the police had to fire to disperse the crowd," Trivedi told reporters.
Another teenager died in police firing in a separate incident.
Police said they had so far arrested 160 people who were participating in the communal violence and added that they had imposed a round-the-clock curfew on seven sensitive areas.
The trouble erupted Friday out of a Muslim demonstration over the burning of the Holy Qur'an, Islam's holy book, by Hindu radicals last week.
According to police, the trouble began after a 1,000-strong crowd of Muslims, mainly members of the Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), which had gathered to offer prayers at a mosque in Kanpur's parade ground, began a protest against the desecration of the Qur'an.
The demonstration turned violent after police sought to prevent the burning of an effigy of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, resulting in an exchange of fire between security men and the demonstrators.
Six people died in the clashes on Friday, including C.P. Pathak, additional district magistrate of Kanpur.
In addition, two people were killed Saturday night when SIMI activists, armed with AK-47 assault rifles, attacked two police stations.
Police say that SIMI is backed by Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) agency and have in the past urged the state government to outlaw the group.
The Indian press, and international news agencies carrying the story, continue to maintain that the Qur'an burning "allegedly" occurred, despite a widely circulated photograph clearly depicting the event taken by an international news agency.
IslamOnline has run the picture and circulated the same to individuals and organizations requesting the image. As a courtesy to site visitors, you can view the image by
clicking
here.
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