Army troops were deployed to maintain peace in the tea-producing Darjeeling hills of eastern India after three people were killed during protests demanding a separate state for the Gorkha people, police said on Sunday.
Incidents of violence have been reported since June after the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), which wants a separate state for Nepali-speaking Gorkhas, called an indefinite strike.
Violence flared up on Saturday after the body of a young man, Tashi Bhutia, was found in Darjeeling, with locals alleging he was killed in police firing, a charge police denied.
"Protesters came out on streets, marching with his body. They engaged in widespread arson and targeted police posts, government offices and a railway station. By the day's end, two more people died in the violence," a police official said over phone from Darjeeling.
Gorkha groups claimed that at least two of the three dead were Gorkha activists. "It is unclear how the deaths happened. The army has been called out to contain the violence," he said, requesting anonymity.
Darjeeling has been tense since the GJM renewed their movement for a separate state last month.
The move came after the state government angered the Gorkhas - who speak Nepali - by announcing plans to make the Bengali language mandatory in state schools.
The Gorkha struggle for a separate state started in the early 1980s and more than 1,000 people are estimated to have died in the violence.
The Darjeeling district was given a special governing council and a territorial administration for more autonomy in the intervening years, but that has failed to satisfy Gorkha supporters.