The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Srinagar

At least 30 people were injured in clashes with police after thousands of angry protestors gathered outside a shrine housing Islamic relics that caught fire Saturday in Indian Kashmir's largest city.

The blaze sparked fresh religious tensions in the Muslim-majority Himalayan region, which has already seen days of violent protests over plans to transfer land to a Hindu pilgrims' body, as rumours spread that police had set the fire.

Police said the fire at the shrine in Srinagar was accidental.

"Initial reports suggest that the fire was caused by a short circuit," said a police officer, who did not want to be named.

"We brought the fire under control," he said, calling the rumours "base and misleading."

All the centuries-old relics at the shrine were safe, he added.

But news of the fire at the Jenab Sahib shrine, which is said to house a relic of the Prophet Mohammed, drew thousands of Muslims onto the surrounding streets, shouting "Allah is great" and "Long live Islam."

Police fired in the air, set off tear-gas shells and baton-charged the crowd that was pelting stones at security forces outside the shrine after some of the demonstrators tried to snatch rifles from the police.

Protesters also hurled stones at a nearby paramilitary police camp and at a local police station, witnesses said.

Some 30 people, including eight journalists, five policemen and six firemen were injured in the melee, police said.