AHMEDABAD, 23 April — Eight people were killed yesterday as the death toll in the fresh wave of sectarian violence in Ahmedabad crossed over 50, officials said.

Four people were killed in renewed rioting in Ahmedabad city, police said. Two of them were stabbed to death, one killed in a stone-throwing incident and another in police firing.

Two other deaths were reported though the circumstances were not immediately known, police said. Two more people died from wounds received during clashes Sunday.

The new death brought the death toll in Ahmedabad alone to 23, and crossed over 50 in a fresh wave of violence that swept Gujarat since Sunday even as Defense Minister George Fernandes tried to bring about rapprochement between Hindus and Muslims in the blood-splattered state. Curfew was imposed on the Shahpur neighborhood of Ahmedabad after one person was stabbed.

The renewed communal fury which started Sunday, coinciding with the Hindu festival of Ram Navami, was reported from Ahmedabad, Kheda, Baroda and Mehsana districts, forcing the government to deploy army and paramilitary troops in the areas.

“What I see from the balcony of my hotel makes me feel that the entire old city is burning,” said a visiting executive. Ahmedabad has witnessed some of the goriest scenes since violence erupted February-end, accounted for 14 of the killings even as Fernandes held marathon meeting with representatives of various comes, trade and industry as well as NGOS.

A policeman was lynched in Bapunagar, the constituency of state Home Minister Gordhan Zadafia, in Ahmedabad. Violence also rocked the Gomtipur and Rakhiyal neighborhoods. A person riding a two-wheeler died in an explosion and another person was torched as police fired to control a mob. Eight people, including a woman, died of bullet injuries. Several people with stab wounds were admitted to city hospitals.

Unrest also spread to the Jamalpur and Baherampura neighborhoods with heavy stone pelting and arson reported. One person was stabbed in Paldi neighborhood and crude bombs exploded in Vejalpur and Gomtipur. Violence engulfed Gujarat following the burning of 58 train passengers, mostly supporters of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), at Godhra town, about 150 km from here, by an allegedly Muslim-led mob Feb. 27. The backlash has claimed over 900 lives so far, mostly Muslims.

Curfew was also imposed in the Gomtipur neighborhood of Ahmedabad, Kapadvanj and Mehmadabad towns of Kheda district and Kadi town of Mehsana district as violence that began Saturday night stretched well into Sunday.

Army soldiers and paramilitary personnel, who have been stationed in Ahmedabad since early March, were deployed in the Gomtipur and Bapunagar areas as policemen refused to go there. Violence broke out in Kapadvanj Saturday following an altercation over a wall a group of people were building to protect themselves from attacks by members of the other community. A heated exchange of words led to clashes, which soon spread through the town. Police lobbed tear gas shells and fired at rampaging mobs, killing one person.

One person was killed as police opened fire on a mob that set ablaze houses and shops in Mehmadabad. Sixteen people were injured.

Fernandes, on the last day of his four-day “healing mission” to Gujarat, met representatives of various communities, religious leaders, activists, trade and industry leaders, lawyers, politicians and members of peace committees at the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry late Sunday.

“There are some elements in the state that do not want peace in Gujarat,” Fernandes said at least three times during the meeting, which lasted several hours.

He said he would lead a “people’s march for peace” April 28 and invited citizens from all over the country to join it.

Ironically, reports of the fresh casualties came the day the Gujarat government released advertisements in all top newspapers accusing the media of blowing things out of proportion.

Meanwhile, the government yesterday tried to stem growing international criticism of the Gujarat violence, saying it did not appreciate “interference” in its affairs.

“We would like to make clear that India does not appreciate interference in our internal affairs including the utilization of the Indian media by foreign leaders as well as by visiting dignitaries to make public statements in order to pander to their domestic lobbies,” External Affairs Ministry spokeswoman Nirupama Rao told reporters.