Tensions rise in Indian state after attacks against Muslims

Tensions are high in parts of India’s northeastern Tripura state after a string of attacks against minority Muslims seen as retaliation for the violence against Hindus in neighboring Bangladesh earlier this month

GAUHATI, India -- Tensions were high in parts of India’s northeastern Tripura state on Friday after a string of attacks against minority Muslims, seen as retaliation for the violence against Hindus in neighboring Bangladesh earlier this month.

State authorities deployed police and paramilitary troops and banned the assembly of more than five people in areas where attacks were reported. Police said at least one mosque, several shops and homes belonging to Muslims in the northern part of the state had been vandalized since Tuesday. No deaths have been reported.

“Some troublemakers are hellbent on disturbing peace and communal harmony in Tripura,” said Senior Police Officer Bhanupada Chakraborty, adding that the situation was under control.

Muslim leaders said that Hindu mobs attacked mosques and torched their properties following a protest rally Tuesday by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, or VHP, a hard-line Hindu nationalist group with ties to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. It is not known if the attackers were members of the VHP.