Voting is under way in two state elections in India, amid tight security.

The polls are to elect members of state assemblies in Manipur and Bihar in northeast and eastern India.

They are the first elections since the general election last year in which the prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, retained power.

Separatist groups and Maoist guerrillas have called for a boycott.

The security forces say six troops were killed in Bihar late on Friday when their vehicle hit a land mine planted by Maoist guerrillas.

Polling in the two states will continue later this month as the elections are being spread over two to three days. More than fifty people were killed in violence in Bihar during the general election.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service