Extremist Hindu groups are offering rewards of money, food and alcohol to mobs to kill Christians and to destroy their homes in India, according to aid workers in the eastern state of Orissa.

The allegations follow the British Government's refusal to bar members of two radical groups widely linked to the worst anti-Christian violence witnessed in India since Partition from entering the UK.

The US-based head of an organisation that runs several orphanages in Orissa, one of India's poorest regions, has claimed that Christian leaders are being targeted by Hindu militants and now carry a bounty on their heads. "The going price to kill a pastor is $250 US dollars," Dr Faiz Rahman, the chairman of Good News India (GNI), said.