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SRINAGAR (India) - AT LEAST 30 people were injured in clashes with police after thousands of angry protestors gathered outside a shrine housing Islamic relics that caught fire on Saturday in Indian Kashmir's largest city.
The blaze sparked fresh religious tensions in the Muslim-majority Himalayan region, which has already seen days of violent protests over plans to transfer land to a Hindu pilgrims' body, as rumours spread that police had set the fire.
Police said the fire at the shrine in Srinagar was accidental.
'Initial reports suggest that the fire was caused by a short circuit,' said a police officer, who did not want to be named.
'We brought the fire under control,' he said, calling the rumours 'base and misleading.'
All the centuries-old relics at the shrine were safe, he added.
But news of the fire at the Jenab Sahib shrine, which is said to house a relic of the Prophet Mohammed, drew thousands of Muslims onto the surrounding streets, shouting 'Allah is great' and 'Long live Islam'.
Police fired in the air, set off tear-gas shells and baton-charged the crowd that was pelting stones at security forces outside the shrine after some of the demonstrators tried to snatch rifles from the police.
Protesters also hurled stones at a nearby paramilitary police camp and at a local police station, witnesses said.
Some 30 people, including eight journalists, five policemen and six firemen were injured in the melee, police said.
Saturday's clashes broke a brief lull in the unrest in the disputed region that saw nine straight days of protest last month against the transfer of land to the Hindu trust.
The state government reversed its order on Tuesday after five protesters were killed and more than 350 others hurt. A sixth protester died of his injuries on Saturday.
Earlier on Saturday, Srinagar was subdued as shops remained closed in response to a strike call to protest at the alleged excessive use of force by police during a march on Friday that left a separatist leader injured.
The protests of recent weeks mark an uptick in unrest in Kashmir, which has seen violence levels dip since 2004 after India and Pakistan, both of which hold Kashmir in part but claim it in full, embarked on a slow peace process. -- AFP
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