JAIPUR, May 30: At least three people were killed on Friday in clashes between police and an ethnic Indian group demanding job and college quotas, taking the death toll to 42 in a week of protests.

The deaths come just as top leaders of the ethnic Gujjar community met on Friday to discuss a possible meeting with authorities to end the impasse.

The violence began on May 23 when protesters belonging to the community lynched a policeman in the state of Rajasthan.

Police opened fire, killing dozens in the next few days.

Since then thousands of Gujjars have taken to the streets, blocking roads and rail tracks both in Rajasthan state and elsewhere. On Thursday, protesters briefly halted traffic on several main highways into New Delhi.

Police fired tear gas and then bullets that killed two people on Friday in Rajasthan’s Sawai Madhopur district. A policeman was also killed.

“Failing to control the stone-pelting mob, police had to resort to firing,” Umesh Mishra, police inspector general said.

The Gujjars want to be reclassified further down India’s Hindu caste and status system so they qualify for government jobs and university seats reserved for such groups.—Reuters