New Delhi: Most mosques were shut for Friday prayers in an important business hub on the outskirts of India’s capital after six people were killed in sectarian riots.
Police were deployed in large numbers outside several mosques in Gurugram — a satellite city of New Delhi and a key business centre where Nokia, Samsung and other multinationals have their Indian headquarters.
Tensions have been high in the area since Monday when mobs hurled stones at a Hindu religious procession and set cars alight in the predominantly Muslim district of Nuh nearby.
No major instances of violence have been reported since Tuesday night.
The unrest began on Monday when mobs hurled stones at a Hindu religious procession and set cars alight in the predominantly Muslim district of Nuh, around 75 kilometres south of New Delhi.
“The procession was meant to move from one temple to another but clashes broke out between two groups on the way, which resulted in the death of four people,” Krishan Kumar, spokesperson of Nuh police, told a foreign news agency.
He said two of the dead were members of the home guard, a voluntary force that helps police control civil disturbances. Another 10 police personnel were injured in the clashes, he added.
The violence spilled over into neighbouring Gurugram, where a mosque was torched around midnight, killing one person and injuring another.
Gurugram, formerly known as Gurgaon, shares a border with New Delhi and has emerged as a business hub for the country, housing several multinational companies.