Fugitive Indian minister remanded

Mr Soren is accused of inciting a mob

A former Indian minister wanted in connection with the 1975 killing of 11 people has been remanded in custody.

Shibu Soren appeared in a court in Jharkhand state on Monday where a request for bail was rejected.

Mr Soren, a local tribal leader, denies inciting a mob which killed 11 settlers during a campaign to carve out the tribal-dominated state 29 years ago.

He resigned as coal minister after protests by opposition MPs. Police have been looking for him for 10 days.

Crowds

The court in the town of Jamdara sent Mr Soren to judicial custody for 14 days after rejecting his application for bail.

He is being moved out of the town because it lacks a facility to hold him.

Heavy security was in place around the court complex, with squads of flak-jacketed riot police deployed.

Thousands of his supporters were perched on trees and on the roofs of nearby buildings.

Mr Soren appealed to his followers to remain calm before entering the court.

Last Thursday, the court ordered him to appear before it by 2 August after rejecting an earlier application for bail.

Denies charges

Mr Soren, who made a public appearance last week, has rejected the charges against him.

He said it was a political conspiracy against him by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The charges against him relate to a political campaign to set up Jharkhand state, which came into existence in November 2000. Mr Soren was one of the leaders of the campaign.

He is alleged to have incited a mob which killed 11 people, many of them Muslim, who had settled on land the tribals claimed as their own.

The case, which had been closed, was opened recently after the apparent emergence of fresh evidence.