Over 400 people have been arrested as mobs set fire to buildings and vehicles during a strike to protest against alleged illegal killings by police in eastern India.
Demonstrators stormed the government office in the state capital, Patna, defying a police ban on gatherings of more than five people to protest against the gunning-down of three men in Bihar state on Saturday.
Vehicles were off the streets and many people stayed indoors during the strike, called by opposition parties and youth organisations.
Indian Railways took the unprecedented step of stopping 200 trains for 12 hours in the state.
The strike is the second in Patna this week after 50 people were injured and 500 arrested during violent clashes on Tuesday. Over 2,000 riot police and 10,000 state police have been deployed in Patna.
The three men were killed on Saturday when police opened fire "during an encounter with robbers", according to a spokesman. Police have denied the officers acted illegally.
The victims' families, however, say they were not robbers and that the police shot them in "cold blood" during a "fake encounter".
One of the five policemen involved in the incident has been arrested and jailed. A search is on to find the missing four.
AFP