Curfew in India town after deaths

By Subir Bhaumik
BBC News, Calcutta

An indefinite curfew has been imposed on a town in India's north-eastern Assam state after clashes killed seven.

Officials say trouble erupted on Saturday when police detained two young men allegedly involved in a road accident in the town of Moirabari.

Elections were being held in a college union and hundreds of students rushed to demand their release by the police.

Rumours that the pair had been arrested following clashes during the college union elections fuelled the unrest.

Police armed with batons tried to break up the protest, but the crowd grew to well over 1,000 and turned more violent.

The town's police station was set on fire. Some of the protesters dragged out and lynched three policemen who subsequently died.

The police then opened fire, killing four protesters.

Tense situation

More than 20 people, including some policemen, were injured in the violence.

Seven of those hurt were in a critical condition, according to hospital sources.

The administration has enforced curfew orders at Moirabari, in Moregaon district, and deployed additional police and paramilitary contingents to control the violence.

Officials said the situation was still very tense, but now under control.

Assam has seen many violent separatist movements over the past few decades and tensions often flare when people are detained for questioning by the police or even searched at routine checkpoints.