Police used tear gas to disperse crowds when they attacked officers in a Muslim area of Godhra town, residents say.

Several people are reported to have sustained minor injuries.

The suspects are wanted in connection with the burning to death of 59 Hindus in Godhra in 2002, which sparked months of communal violence in the state.

At least 1,000 people, most of them Muslims, died in the riots which swept Gujarat.

Some estimates put the figure closer to 2,000.