"Shoot on Sight": Indian Police Ordered to Quell Religous Riots

Parts of eastern Orissa state have been rocked by Hindu-Christian clashes since Saturday, when a popular hardline Hindu religious leader and four of his disciples were shot dead by unknown assailants.

"We issued shoot-on-sight orders in the wake of large-scale violence" despite a curfew imposed Monday, said local administrator Satyabrata Sahu.

Mobs armed with sticks went on the rampage, torching government buildings and vehicles and staging other attacks, he said.

Among those killed was a Hindu woman working at an orphanage who was burnt to death when the missionary-run facility was torched by a Hindu mob. Originally she was reported to be a nun.

Authorities have refused to reveal the religious identities of the other people killed in the clashes. But a senior police official, who wished to remain unnamed, said the dead included two Christians and two Hindus.