Indian police detained 70 people as protests against a rise in fuel prices announced by the national government continued for a fourth day on Thursday. Police used batons and water cannons to repel government employees shouting "roll back fuel prices" as they tried to march on the office of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in occupied Srinagar.
"Some 20 protesters received minor injuries while 70 others were detained," a police officer, who declined to be named, told AFP. Unhappiness over the fuel price hike announced last week by the ruling Congress-led government in New Delhi has also prompted a state-wide strike by privately owned buses and trucks.