Five people have been killed in politically-related violence in the Indian state of West Bengal.

Police say two were burnt to death and the other three were lynched when arsonists went on the rampage in Basanti village in the coastal Sundarbans region, setting fire to thirty houses.

A BBC correspondent in the region says the attacks are alleged to have been carried out by supporters of the state's ruling Communist Party, while the victims were thought to support the main opposition Trinamul Congress Party.

In the state of Tripura, police say an army lieutenant was killed in an ambush, and the bullet-ridden body of a kidnapped police intelligence officer was found.