Four killed in anti-Bush riots
04/03/2006 14:22 - (SA)
Lucknow - The death toll from riots in the city of Lucknow protesting US President George W Bush's visit to India rose to four on Saturday after one man died of his wounds, officials said.
Violence erupted in the northern city on Friday when dozens of armed Muslims tried to force Hindu shop owners to shut their stores to protest Bush's visit. The two sides argued, exchanged blows, and finally shot at each other.
"The toll has gone up to four," said RK Mittal, a senior government official.
More than twenty people were still hospitalised on Saturday. "All of them have received bullet injuries. Seven of them are serious," said AK Chawla, a senior doctor in the government hospital.
Muslim groups rallied in several Indian cities to protest Bush's three-day visit to India, closer ties between the two countries, and the American military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush left India on Friday for neighbouring Pakistan.
Charred shops and burnt vehicles bore witness on Saturday to the violence in the mainly Muslim city, a seat of Islamic studies.
"There stood my garment shop. It is all reduced to ashes. I am ruined," Mohan Lal Sharma said, pointing toward a charred structure that was still billowing dark smoke.
Shops and all business establishments remained closed and schools and government offices were closed in the riot-affected areas.
However, there were no new reports of violence.
"People have been asked to stay indoors," police superintendent Ashutosh Pandey said. "No untoward incident has been reported since yesterday evening."
While there have been numerous protests this week across India against Bush's visit, with the crowds at some totalling tens of thousands of people, the numbers fell far short of the millions that organisers had threatened to bring to the streets ahead of the visit.
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