(AFP) – Jul 3, 2008

SRINAGAR (AFP) — Two people were killed Thursday in central India in protests over the revocation of an order to transfer land in Indian Kashmir to a Hindu pilgrims' body, the Press Trust of India agency reported.

The protests were part of a nationwide action called by the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and an ally, angered that officials had rescinded the transfer after bitter opposition in Muslim-majority Kashmir.

"Two persons have been killed in violence," Rakesh Shrivastava, an official in Indore city in central Madhya Pradesh state, told the agency.

"Six others are injured."

Police fired tear gas shells at the mob that had gathered in Indore and parts of the city were now under curfew, the report said.

In the northern state of Punjab, protesters blockading roads clashed with police while in other parts of the country many shops remained shut for fear of incurring a backlash from party supporters.

Authorities in Indian Kashmir also widened a curfew imposed a day earlier to contain violent protests by Hindus amid fears the insurgency-hit Himalayan region could see sectarian rioting, officials said.

Hindu protesters attacked police and government property in Jammu, the region's second biggest city, on Wednesday.

"We had to take the step to prevent loss of precious lives," said divisional commissioner Sudhanshu Pandey Thursday, adding that the curfew had been widened to outlying areas.

The curfew was expected to be in place for at least the next three days, the NDTV news channel reported.

Authorities were trying to prevent the protests from escalating into riots, after a grenade was hurled at a Hindu demonstration, wounding 20, and four houses of Muslim nomads were set on fire by Hindu mobs.

But in the summer capital Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir valley, life was returning to normal after nine days of rioting that left five dead and hundreds injured.

Protests first erupted last month when authorities transferred some land to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board so it could assist large numbers of Hindus who make an annual trek to a Himalayan grotto.

Muslim separatists said the move was aimed at setting up Hindu settlements in Kashmir.

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