Amanjit Singh Gill, Rajasthan's director-general of police, said security forces in Sikandra, a town 212km north of the Indian capital, New Delhi, fired at protesters on Saturday who torched a police station and two buses and shot and wounded a policeman.

Reclassification would allow the Gujjars to qualify for government jobs and university places reserved for such groups.

A police officer was also beaten to death and at least 70 injured people during the rioting.