NEW DELHI (AP):

Angry Sikhs brandishing swords ransacked a police station in western India yestersday, outraged that six Hindus forcibly cut a Sikh teenage boy's hair in a dispute over a girl, a news report said.

Two police were injured and the windscreen of their jeep was smashed when they tried to control the protesters who threw rocks at them in Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan state, Press Trust of India news agency said.

The protesters demanded the arrest of the six Hindus whom they said beat and cut the hair of a 17-year-old Sikh youth, the report said. All devout Sikh men grow their hair and wear turbans, and the religion bars haircuts.

Assaulted

Police believe the six targeted the teenager because they objected to his friendship with a local girl, the report said. The protesters filed a police complaint alleging that the six took the teenager to a deserted place and assaulted him.

The protesters also forced shops and businesses to close down for the day in parts of Jaipur, according to the report.