JODHPUR, May 29: At least eight people were killed on Tuesday in clashes between police and thousands of people demanding government aid in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan, officials said.

The protesters from the ethnic Gujjar community of shepherds want to be included among the “scheduled castes,” India’s socially and economically weakest communities who are granted state aid and jobs.

An Indian army spokesman in New Delhi said soldiers had been dispatched to Dausa district, where the protesters blocked a highway from the Taj Mahal town of Agra to Rajasthan’s capital Jaipur.

“Army columns have been deployed to stage flag marches and clear the mobs,” Rajasthan Home Secretary V.S. Singh said in Jaipur.

Hundreds of tourists were stranded in Agra as police diverted Rajasthan-bound traffic to the Indian capital, tour operators said.

“A large number of tourists are stranded here and ... and many are changing their itinerary,” said A.K. Lal, a spokesman for the Travel Corp of India tour operator in Agra.

“Tourists in droves are leaving for Delhi,” a senior police officer added.

In Rajasthan, Dausa district administrator H.K. Dahmor said the dead included two policemen and six protesters.

“The police first tried to negotiate with the protesters,” said Dahmor from Dausa, 500 km from Jodhpur.—AFP