MUMBAI, Jan 7: A row over an unpaid restaurant bill in a western Indian city escalated into a riot between Hindus and Muslims that left four people dead and 175 injured, police said on Monday.

The unrest broke out at Dhule in Maharashtra state on Sunday, special inspector general Deven Bharti said. Four rioters were killed by police firing and 113 policemen were among the injured, he added.

Mr Bharti said investigations were still under way, but it appeared that a quarrel over a restaurant bill had provoked a mass brawl that left shops smashed, motorbikes burned and glass strewn across the streets.

Previous riots between the two communities in Dhule, which has a population of about 400,000 and is located 330km from Mumbai, broke out in October 2008, leaving 10 dead.

“The restaurant owner was from one community and the customer from the other,” Mr Bharti said, declining to name the parties involved.

“The customer went and took 50 people from his community and assaulted the restaurant owner, and people from the owner’s community also gathered and started arsoning and rioting,” he said.

Mr Bharti said police had used sticks, tear gas and plastic bullets before resorting to live ammunition to quell the trouble.

The area was put under a curfew that continued on Monday and was “peaceful and under control”, he added.—AFP