HYDERABAD Indian police on Tuesday imposed a curfew in parts of the southern city of Hyderabad, home to global IT giants Google and Microsoft, after three days of inter-religious clashes.
At least one man died in street battles between Hindu and Muslim mobs during violence triggered by arguments over putting up decorations for a religious festival, Hyderabad Police Superintendent A.K. Khan told AFP.
He said the victim, a Hindu youth, was stabbed to death on Monday and scores of people had been injured.
“We have imposed a curfew on parts of the city because we did not want the situation to escalate,” Khan said, adding that the curfew would cover about a third of the city.
Violence spread over the weekend through the Muslim-dominated “old city” of Hyderabad with crowds pelting stones at each other near the tourist landmark of the Charminar mosque.
Five smaller mosques and one Hindu temple were slightly damaged, police said, as shops, buses and cars were set on fire.
Hyderabad city has attracted major investment from global information technology and pharmaceuticals firms, and is a symbol of Indias emerging economy.
But it has also suffered from historically deep communal tension and growing unrest over the proposed division of Andhra Pradesh state into two entities, which has also lead police to impose curfews.
Frequent strikes and road and rail blockades have caused widespread disruption to business in the last year.
Analysts say the turmoil has created a sense of uncertainty among investors, though social networking group Facebook chose the city earlier this month for its first office in India.
Hyderabad police were on alert Tuesday as Hindus marked a festival celebrating the birth of the Hindu monkey god Hanuman.
