At least 13 people were killed and 47 were wounded when police opened fire yesterday in India's north-eastern Manipur state after protesters burnt down the legislative assembly building.
An indefinite curfew was imposed in the state capital, Imphal, as up to 5,000 protesters rampaged through the streets, setting fire to official residences and political party offices.
Mr Issac Sahah, an official at the police control room in Imphal, said that at one point hundreds of protesters had broken through a security cordon and tried to set fire to the chief minister's residence.
Police said that at least 20 members of the security forces were critically wounded when they tried to stop protesters. Police and paramilitary commandos opened fire to disperse the mob.
"The people are agitated and there is tension all over Imphal, although the situation is gradually coming under control," he said. Army helicopters were conducting surveillance of the trouble-prone areas and army had been put on stand-by.
A paramilitary force was brought in to enforce the curfew order, while all flights into and from Imphal were cancelled.
Manipur has been under direct rule from New Delhi for several weeks following a political crisis that brought down the state government.
The violence came on the third straight day of a general strike in Manipur to protest against the federal government's extension of a ceasefire with a regional armed separatist group, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN).
The 12-month extension was agreed with a faction of the NSCN led by Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah, known as the NSCN (IM). Under the new agreement, the ceasefire will be implemented across India and not just in the province of Nagaland - a move that has worried the neighbouring states of Assam, Manipur and Tripura.
In New Delhi, the ruling BJP party denied the ceasefire extension had any hidden agenda. "There is no plan to divest any portion of Manipur or any other state and include them in the state of Nagaland," it said.