INDIAN authorities imposed a curfew, suspended internet service and deployed thousands of paramilitaries to parts of northern Haryana state on Tuesday after deadly communal clashes spread to Gurugram, one of capital New Delhi’s satellite cities.

The violence began on Monday afternoon when Hindus and Muslims clashed in Haryana’s Nuh district during a religious procession by a Hindu nationalist group, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. 

Four people, including two police, were killed.

More than 20 officers were injured in the violence and dozens of cars were set on fire, a police statement said.

Tensions later spilled over to Gurugram where mobs torched a mosque and killed a Muslim cleric late on Monday. Police told reporters that they have arrested some of the attackers.

There were no reports of fresh violence from either place on Tuesday, but authorities ordered schools and colleges to remain closed as a precaution.

Baton-wielding police were patrolling the streets of Nuh littered with stones and charred vehicles in the areas where clashes took place and fear-stricken residents remained indoors.

“A large mob destroyed property, cars and hand carts. I stayed indoors to protect my family,” said resident Mahendra, who only gave his first name.

Another local, Akram Qureshi, said many families had fled the violence-stricken neighbourhoods out of fear.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar condemned the violence on social media.

“The guilty will not be spared at any cost. Strictest action will be taken against them,” he warned. 

Communal violence in India is not new, with periodic clashes breaking out ever since the British partition of the subcontinent in 1947, but observers say that religious polarisation has risen under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist BJP government.