News In Brief

6,000 rioters held at bay as Bombay strife continues

Police and Army troops repelled 6,000 rioters Monday and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi toured sites of Hindu-Muslim violence that has claimed at least 99 lives in five days.

More than 1,200 people have been arrested, and police said relief camps were being set up for 7,000 people whose homes have been burned down during the rioting.

Police spokesman P.M. Sawant said mobs of Hindus and Muslims battled in the streets for several hours in Bombay's Gowandi section, setting fires, throwing stones, and looting.

Mrs. Gandhi told public meetings in Thane and Bhiwandi that the communal violence was a blot on India's history and she said internal strife is always exploited by ''outside elements,'' which she did not specify.