(Adds chief minister's comments) HYDERABAD, India, May 20 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Indian Muslims protested on Sunday against the police killing of five people during demonstrations following a bomb attack on a 17th century mosque. The chief minister of southern Andhra Pradesh province said a "foreign hand" was behind Friday's blast that killed 11 people in the city of Hyderabad, without naming any group or country. "We have conclusive and overwhelming evidence of a foreign hand in Friday's bomb blast at Mecca Masjid," Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy said. "We will now ask the centre (federal government) to take it further." The bombing coincided with Friday prayers inside the sprawling Mecca Masjid. Police later shot dead five people when they moved against mobs who attacked police and property. On Sunday, Muslim youths blocked the entry to the state police chief's office for over two hours to protest against the killings. They also burnt an effigy of the officer. "Why did the police use regular bullets when there were guidelines to use rubber bullets only to quell rioting mobs?" said Asaduddin Owaisi, an MP, who led the protests. It was the third attack on a mosque in India over the past year and intelligence agencies and analysts say members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) could be behind them, backed by Pakistani spy agency ISI and militant groups. The aim, they say, is to trigger communal clashes in India which, while more than 80 percent Hindu, has the world's third biggest Muslim population after Indonesia and Pakistan. Pakistan-based militant groups have long been fighting Indian rule in the northern disputed territory of Kashmir. In recent years, police have also blamed them for terror strikes outside Kashmir like the 2005 market bombings in New Delhi in which 66 people were killed. Other incidents include the 2006 explosions in Varanasi, one of India's holiest temple cities, which killed 15 people.
