KANDHAMAL, India, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Officials said Tuesday least 20 people died in the three weeks since violent Hindu-Christian confrontations began in the remote east Indian state of Orissa.
Orissa state police said the latest casualty was a police officer who died trying to flee a police station torched Monday by an armed group of 400-500 mostly Hindus, CNN reported Tuesday.
The attack came two days after police fired on a crowd to prevent it from attacking Christian residents, killing between at least three people, CNN reported.
The violence spread to southern India when vandals attacked 14 churches Sunday in the state of Karnataka, CNN's sister network CNN-IBN reported.
Officials said the clashes may be traced to Aug. 23, when Hindu leader Laxmananda Saraswati and four others were killed in Kandhamal after up to 30 gunmen opened fire inside a Hindu school.
Authorities haven't determined who killed Saraswat, but one theory says the killings may have been done by Maoist rebels, CNN reported. However, hard-liners among the Hindus blamed a Christian minority.
