Police protest in Calcutta

Policemen in the eastern Indian city of Calcutta have staged protests against their senior officers after one of their colleagues died in a police hospital.

Thursday's death was the second such incident in the last four days.

Policemen belonging to the Seventh Calcutta Armed Police Battalion allege that their colleague, Sheo Prasad Das, who became ill on Thursday, had been unwell for more than a month, but was refused leave to undergo medical treatment.

On Sunday, more than 150 policemen went on a rampage in a different barracks in Calcutta, and set up roadblocks after another constable, Rajendra Singh Rana, died under similar circumstances.

Policemen allege that in both cases the sick policemen had been denied leave by their officers because of the Hindu festival period and an alert for possible terrorist attacks.

The Calcutta police commissioner, Sujoy Chakrabarty, said he has ordered an inquiry into the protests.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service