Burdwan: Hundreds of government food distributors were hiding in fear of their lives in eastern India yesterday when riots were triggered after villagers accused them of stealing and hoarding food meant for the poor.

Police in the state of West Bengal said three ration distributors have committed suicide in the last two weeks since villagers gave them an ultimatum to pay millions of rupees as a "fine" for diverting grain to regular markets at huge premiums.

"We admit there are some corrupt members, but everyone is being targeted, forcing most of us to either hide or risk getting killed," Ashok Saha, said the food distributors' association chief in Burdwan district.

The protests follow a central government inquiry that revealed widespread corruption in the food distribution system. The investigation found that most rural poor in eastern and northern India were not getting regular supplies of the food to which they are entitled.

Heavily subsidised

In India, villagers below the poverty level - about 28 per cent of the rural population in West Bengal - are sold heavily subsidised paddy, wheat and sugar under a central government scheme through thousands of private franchisees.

Villagers in the communist-ruled state have looted and set storehouses on fire over the last week. Police have shot dead two villagers during the riots, and more than 300 villagers have been injured in clashes, officials said.

"For years, they have been cheating us," said a weeping Arjina Bibi in Burdwan, as she stood next to her three hungry children. "They were saying there were no stocks available, while we have seen lorries carry away wheat to flour mills at midnight."