NEW DELHI, India, Oct. 2, Reuter: Parts of Bombay were placed under curfew on Friday after police shot dead three people as they tried to control group clashes, police said.

The people were killed when police opened fire to disperse unidentified groups fighting in the heart of Bombay, India’s commercial center, on the Hindu festival of Dussehra, the police said.

A dusk to dawn curfew was clamped on areas of the city where fights first broke out on Thursday between groups of milk salesmen over distribution rights.

Police opened fire in Bombay for the second consecutive day on Saturday, wounding two people as they tried to control clashes between rival groups, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.

The news agency said the police action came only after they failed to disperse unidentified groups with batons and teargas in the Kamathipura area of India’s financial center.

PTI quoted the police as saying trouble started in the morning after a few people were injured in knife attacks, leading to another round of violence in which at least 10 people were injured,

Three people were shot dead on Friday by police as they tried to quell crowd violence on the Hindu festival of Dussehra. Fighting first broke out on Thursday between groups of milk salesmen over distribution rights.

Article extracted from this publication >>  October 9, 1987