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Gunmen raid Indian religious site, one killed

Posted on: Tuesday, 5 July 2005, 05:31 CDT

LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) - Unidentified gunmen on Tuesdayraided a religious site in northern India claimed by bothHindus and Muslims and one of the attackers was killed in agunbattle with security forces, officials said.

The attack took place at a complex which houses a makeshifttemple to Hindu God-king Ram in the town of Ayodhya, erectedafter Hindu mobs destroyed a 16th century mosque there in 1992,saying it was built on the site where they believe Ram was bornthousands of years ago.

"Some terrorists have got in. Firing is going on. One ofthem has been killed and the driver of their vehicle has beenarrested," Arun Sinha, a senior government official in thearea, told Reuters.

Sinha said there could be three or four attackers and itwas not yet clear if they had entered the sprawling and heavilyguarded complex which consists of old temples, dilapidatedstructures and open ground.

Indian TV channels reported that the attackers had usedexplosives but the reports could not be confirmed.

The disputed site at Ayodhya, about 600 km (375 miles)southeast of New Delhi, created deep divisions between India'sHindus and its minority Muslims after the nationalist BharatiyaJanata Party led a campaign in the late 1980s to build a Ramtemple on the site of the mosque, culminating in itsdestruction.

Reports of the attack hurt Indian shares which fell as faras 7,249.55 points after hitting a record high of 7,308.72 inearly trade. The main Bombay index later recovered slightly andwas down 0.14 percent at 7267.88 points 0115 GMT.

Source: REUTERS

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