Hindu rioters attack Muslims in western India

AHMADABAD, India -- Angry Hindus set fire to homes in a Muslim neighborhood Thursday and then kept firefighters away for hours, dragging out one former lawmaker and burning him alive. At least 76 people died in revenge attacks triggered by a Muslim assault on a train.

Nearly 1,000 soldiers arrived in Ahmadabad in western Gujarat state early Friday after police had appeared outnumbered or unwilling to act to quell what appeared to be the worst rioting to hit the country in nearly a decade.

The officers stood in bunches, watching as groups of Hindus, wielding iron rods and cans of gasoline or kerosene, roamed Ahmadabad attacking Muslims in their homes, shops and vehicles.

Of the 76 deaths in the state on Thursday, 55 were in Ahmadabad, said a police officer in the State Police Control Room, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Narendra Modi, chief minister of Gujarat state and a member of the ruling Hindu nationalist party, said 21 others were killed throughout the state, including two people shot by police who opened fire on rioters in the towns of Nadiad and Godhra. The circumstances of the other deaths was not clear.

Trapped residents

Despite arrival of troops in the region's main city, there were fears the violence would spread Friday, when Hindu nationalists called for a nationwide strike.

In Thursday's worst attack, 38 people -- including 12 children -- died when some 2,000 Hindus set fire to six homes in an affluent Muslim neighborhood.

Some trapped residents made frantic telephone calls to police and firefighters. But police said they arrived two hours later and firefighters were delayed by more than six hours because of blockades by rioters. A former lawmaker, Ehsan Jefri, fired at the rioters when they tried to enter his house, but he was dragged out and burned alive.

Elsewhere in Ahmadabad, rioters pulled a Muslim truck driver out of his vehicle and killed him at a roadblock, police said. Other Hindus made bonfires with goods looted from shops, and 20 men tore down a small mosque.

J.S. Bandukwala, a Muslim and human rights activist, said his house was attacked by Hindus who "lobbed burning rags and pelted stones," before his Hindu neighbors took him to safety.