Two burnt to death in Indian riots

"Over 100 houses were set ablaze in a Hindu-Muslim clash in which two girls were charred to death," Prem Prakash, a police official told AFP.

The incident in Pratapgarh, 200 kilometres (136 miles) southeast of the state capital Lucknow, came after a Hindu youth was gunned down by unidentified people in a village market Sunday evening.

"The murder triggered a communal flare up when Hindus armed with rods and sticks torched houses of Muslims," Prakash said.

"Riot police have been sent to the village to control the situation," he said. "Over 100 people have been arrested. The situation is still tense."

Some 13 percent of Uttar Pradesh's 166 million population are Muslims.

Instances of sectarian clashes between Hindus and Muslims are not uncommon in the state where right-wing Hindus razed a mosque at a site disputed between the two communities in 1992.

The demolition sparked off some of the worst religious violence in the country, leaving at least 2,000 people dead.

Last month, three people were killed in sectarian violence in the Muslim dominated city of Aligarh while another four were killed in Lucknow in a separate incident.