Monday, 28 August, 2000, 08:10 GMT 09:10 UK

Hindu preacher killed by Tripura rebels

A tribal Hindu spiritual leader has been killed by separatist rebels in the northeastern Indian state of Tripura. Police say about ten guerrillas belonging to the outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura ,the NLFT, broke into a temple near the town of Jirania on Sunday night and shot dead Shanti Tripura, a popular Hindu preacher popularly known as Shanti Kali. The separatist group says it wants to convert all tribespeople in the state to Christianity. The BBC correspondent in the region says the killing has created tension between the majority of tribals, who are Hindu or Buddhist, and the small number of Christian converts. From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/899422.stm