Madhya Pradesh communal clash: Death toll rises to eight

NAT57National/Religion/CrimeMadhya Pradesh communal clash: Death toll rises to eightBhopal, Oct 11 IANS The death toll in Friday's religious riots in a Madhya Pradesh town has risen to eight with five people succumbing to their injuries Saturday, police said.Three people had died and 21 were injured in the clashes Friday in Burhanpur town, over 300 km from here, that also saw shops and houses being torched despite curfew being imposed. Shoot-at-sight orders were issued Friday night in the violence-hit town.Curfew continued in the town even though the officials said the situation was under control."The situation is now under control and additional police force from Indore and Bhopal has reached there," Deputy Inspector General Khargone G. Janardhan told IANS. The communal tension began Thursday night when some people pelted stones at a religious procession passing through the Gandhi Chowk area. The situation was, however, immediately brought under control after elders from the communities intervened. Traders in the Gandhi Chowk area Friday downed their shutters to protest the previous night's violence. But in the afternoon, a group of people damaged shops and set some of them ablaze.Soon, members of the two communities started pelting stones at each other, injuring several people. Two houses were also torched in Lalbagh area even though curfew was in force, the officials said. --Indo-Asian News Servicess/skvm239 Words*11101844