Violence in Indian city after truck kills four youth

The accident occurred in Agra, home to the famous Taj Mahal, in the early hours of Wednesday when a Muslim procession was returning after marking "Shab-e-Barat" or "night of forgiveness" when they pray for the dead and seek forgiveness for sins.

Police officials said Muslim leaders had rushed to the local police station to protest the deaths but protests turned violent after people started pelting stones at policemen.

Angry crowds later torched 20 trucks, eight cars, four tractors and a police vehicle and attacked police pickets. The mobs then set fire to a leather factory in which nearly 30 workers were injured, the NDTV network reported.

Several policemen and a senior district official were wounded in the clashes as the police resorted to baton-charging and firing in the air to disperse the mobs, the news channel reported.

The IANS news agency reported that nearly 50 people were injured in the riots but the Agra police declined to give a specific number.

"The situation is tense as clashes have been reported from five areas in the city since early morning," said an official at the police control room in Agra requesting anonymity.  

"Security has been tightened and efforts are on to bring the situation under control," he said.

He said curfew was imposed in violence-hit areas including restrictions against gatherings of more than five persons were imposed.

State officials said additional police forces were being rushed from nearby areas to bolster security. Local authorities also ordered the closure of schools and colleges as a precautionary measure.

//(Deutsche Presse-Agentur/DPA)