Trains diverted after India riot

The clashes broke out last week

Passenger trains have been turned away from the northern Indian town of Mau after riots between Hindus and Muslims in which seven people have died.

The state authorities have ordered an inquiry into the clashes, which broke out last week.

More than 250 people have been arrested after the riots and for breaking a curfew in the town, officials say.

Mau is located near the historic city of Varanasi and has a predominantly Muslim population.

Senior officials say no fresh violence has been reported from Mau but the authorities are not taking any chances.

"All trains have been diverted to avoid any kind of attack by rioters," the Reuters news agency quotes railway official Amitabh Lal as saying.

The clampdown is also having an effect on local residents.

"Shops have remained closed for the past three days and there is no milk supply to this small town," a police spokesman, Ram Saran Srivastava, told Associated Press.

Sari weavers

The violence broke out on Friday after a dispute over a local Hindu festival.

Reports say shops were burned and people were attacked with sharp weapons.

The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state, where Mau is located, has described the riot as a blot on his two-year term.

Mulayam Singh Yadav said he had also ordered an investigation into claims that politicians from Mau had played a part in the violence.

Most of the Muslims are employed as weavers in Mau, a town renowned for its traditional weaving of silk saris.