Six burnt alive in communal violence in southern India

Oct 12, 2008, 11:09 GMT

New Delhi - Rioters killed six members of a Muslim family by setting ablaze their house in India's southern Andhra Pradesh state in a fresh communal flare-up between Hindus and Muslims in the region on Sunday, a news report said.

Unidentified people set afire to a house in the Adilabad district some 275 kilometres north of state capital Hyderabad in the early hours of Sunday, the IANS news agency reported.

The attack took place at the Vatoli village near the Bhainsa town, where four people were killed in violence at the end of a Hindu festival on Friday.

Police told the IANS that rioters also torched two shops nearby and the incident sparked fresh tension in Bhainsa, which remained under curfew.

Tension also prevailed in the Nirmal and Adilabad towns where police have imposed prohibitory orders.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister has asked the police and local administration to remain on high alert and ordered an inquiry into the incident.

Relations between Hindus, who account for 80 per cent of India's billion-plus population, and Muslims making up 15.1 per cent - the country's largest religious minority - have largely been peaceful in recent years. But sporadic incidents of violence do occur.