AFP, New Delhi :
Police have arrested nine people after a mob torched a house and burnt to death three men thought to be Muslims in an outbreak of communal violence in northern India, an official said on Monday.
Police in riot gear were patrolling a village where Sunday’s hours-long rampage and attack occurred in Bihar state, with tensions still high between the majority Hindu and minority Muslim communities.
The attack was triggered by the discovery of the body of a teenage Hindu boy, allegedly murdered by family members of a Muslim girl who objected to the pair’s suspected relationship.
“We have identified the attackers and nine accused have been arrested,” said Paras Nath, inspector general of police in Muzaffarpur district. “The hunt is on for others. Three persons were burnt alive,” Nath said.
“One accused in the murder of the teenage boy has also been arrested,” he added. The body of 19-year-old Bhartendu Kumar was discovered on Saturday in his native village of Saraiya, 102 kilometres from the state capital Patna, after he disappeared days earlier.
Police have arrested nine people after a mob torched a house and burnt to death three men thought to be Muslims in an outbreak of communal violence in northern India, an official said on Monday.
Police in riot gear were patrolling a village where Sunday’s hours-long rampage and attack occurred in Bihar state, with tensions still high between the majority Hindu and minority Muslim communities.
The attack was triggered by the discovery of the body of a teenage Hindu boy, allegedly murdered by family members of a Muslim girl who objected to the pair’s suspected relationship.
“We have identified the attackers and nine accused have been arrested,” said Paras Nath, inspector general of police in Muzaffarpur district. “The hunt is on for others. Three persons were burnt alive,” Nath said.
“One accused in the murder of the teenage boy has also been arrested,” he added. The body of 19-year-old Bhartendu Kumar was discovered on Saturday in his native village of Saraiya, 102 kilometres from the state capital Patna, after he disappeared days earlier.
