West Bengal police brutal, says Amnesty

The human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, has accused the police in the Indian state of West Bengal of gross human rights violations and brutality.

It says that the government encouraged the police to use torture to check crime.

Amnesty says methods of police torture in the state include rape and electric shock.

West Bengal government officials have denied the charges.

The instances of alleged abuse are outlined in Amnesty's newly-released report on police brutality in communist-ruled West Bengal.

It says the victims of torture are most often the socially and economically disadvantaged.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service