Indian Kashmir formally revoked Tuesday a decision to hand over land to Hindu pilgrims after days of violent protests that left five dead and nearly 350 injured in the Muslim region. A 70-year old Muslim died in police action in the central Kashmir district of Budgam hours before the order was rescinded Tuesday, police said.

Jubilant Muslim crowds burst crackers in summer capital Srinagar to welcome the news, but the government`s decision to revoke the plan angered Hindus concentrated in the southern part of the region.

There were angry clashes on Tuesday between police and Hindu demonstrators in the winter capital Jammu prompting authorities to impose a curfew in some areas, police said, adding protesters also set fire to a police booth.

The decision was taken by the state cabinet that met in Srinagar, summer capital of the scenic Himalayan state where a bloody revolt has raged against Indian rule for nearly two decades.

The statement said the state government had taken charge of logistics for a major annual Hindu pilgrimage to a mountain grotto, scrapping a move to allocate land to a trust.

That decision provoked the riots in and around Srinagar.

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