Nearly 700 Christians fearing attacks by Hindus took shelter in government-run relief camps Saturday after sectarian violence in eastern India left at least four people dead last week.
Authorities were providing food, medicine and security to Christians who moved into the four relief camps on Friday in the rural district of Kandhamal in eastern Orissa state, said Pradeep Kapoor, the inspector-general of police.
Meanwhile, two police officers were suspended for failing to prevent violence on Christmas Eve, when long-standing tensions between the Hindu majority and the small Christian community erupted over conversions to Christianity, Kapoor told The Associated Press.
Nearly 800 police and paramilitary forces were trying to restore calm, he said.
No fresh incidents of violence were reported Saturday for a second day in Kandhamal, nearly 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Bhubaneshwar, the capital of Orissa state, Kapoor said.
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