Rioting broke out in the western city of Poona on Saturday after a man threw human waste on a Hindu idol at a temple during worship services, the United News of India reported. Officials imposed a 48-hour curfew on the city after shops were burned in clashes between Hindus and Moslems. Police said one boy was severely beaten by a mob and at least 41 arrests were made. United News of India said a man, believed to be a Moslem, threw the waste on a statue of Lord Ganesha during morning rituals at a temple in the Laxmi Road area of Poona, 75 miles southeast of Bombay. It reported worshipers caught the man and turned him over to police. The agency said about 20 vegetable and fruit shops owned by both Hindus and Moslems were set ablaze during street fighting. B.J. Misar, the city police commissioner, said police dispersed a crowd of hundreds of Hindus gathered near the temple to protest the incident. He told a ``peace committee'' meeting of all political parties that the man suspected of hurling the waste would be charged under the National Security Act that allows detention without trial for up to two years. Hundreds of people are killed every year in Hindu-Moslem violence in India, often provoked by minor fights or deliberate acts such as the one in Poona.
