May 14, 2002	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 1, 1423

MUMBAI, May 13: At least two people died in communal violence in Maharashtra state, which borders the state of Gujarat where almost 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, have been killed in an orgy of bloodhsed that began in February.

Some 25 others were injured, five seriously, in the incident at a mainly Muslim district of Nandurbar city.

The riot came as security forces in Gujarat struggled to quell India’s worst communal violence in a decade.

“The situation is under control but tense, and we’re trying to find out the reason for the outbreak of the violence,” Mane said.

This is the third time in the past two months that religious violence has flared in Maharashtra, which has a history of serious communal clashes. Three people died in one incident in Kalyan, on Mumbai’s outskirts. So far, however, there has been no sign of large-scale violence spreading beyond Gujarat.

Elsewhere in the country, police said a crude bomb exploded in an old mosque in Uttar Pradesh, causing minor damage to the structure.—Reuters