Lockdown in parts of northern India after caste clashes
NEW DELHI: Indian authorities imposed a curfew and issued shoot-on-sight orders in a northern state neighboring New Delhi Saturday, after spreading caste protests left at least one person dead and troops were deployed, officials said.
Television images showed mobs wielding sticks rampaging through the streets in northern Haryana state, setting fire to a local government minister’s house and railway stations, damaging train tracks and blocking two key highways.
The day before police had opened fire on protesters, killing at least one, as the week-long protest by the state’s dominant Jat caste, who are demanding quotas for government jobs and education, took a violent turn.
