India must better protect tribal peoples and disadvantaged castes subject to extrajudicial killings, torture and violence by law enforcement, a United Nations watchdog said Tuesday.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) also said the world's most populous country urgently needs to address hate crimes against Bengali-speaking Muslims.

"The committee was gravely concerned about reports of large-scale violations perpetrated by law enforcement officials against ethnic and ethno-religious groups, Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, including Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, particularly Dalits, and non-citizens," it said in a statement on its findings.