- PANAJI: Authorities are probing the deaths of two protesters whose badly burned bodies were found after thousands of impoverished tribal people blocked roads and railway lines to demand a share of government jobs in a western Indian state, police said Thursday.
Police recovered the bodies from a building that was set on fire Wednesday in Balli, a village on the outskirts of Panaji, the capital of Goa state, police officer Tony Fernandes said. The victims, who belonged to the indigenous Velip tribe, were among thousands of people who joined the daylong protest Wednesday demanding that 12 percent of state government jobs be reserved for tribal people.
The victims were attacked by some local residents who opposed the protesters' demands, said Prakash Velip, a spokesman for the United Tribal Alliances Association which organized the protest.