India poll candidate found dead

Massive protests have been held in India's Uttar Pradesh state after the body of a parliamentary candidate was found hanging from a banyan tree.

Bahadur Sonkar, 35, was a candidate of the Indian Justice Party in Jaunpur, 50km west of the city of Varanasi.

Police used sticks to beat back the crowd and prevented protesters from going near the body for several hours.

Mr Sonkar had been campaigning in the area. His family has blamed a rival candidate for killing him.

The body has now been taken down and is undergoing a post-mortem examination.

'Murder of democracy'

Local journalists say that Mr Sonkar had informed the authorities that he feared for his life and sought protection.

Mr Sonkar had alleged that he was under pressure to withdraw his candidature and support the state's governing Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

The BBC's Ram Dutt Tripathi in Jaunpur says the rival candidate accused by the family has a number of criminal cases pending against him.

Local MP and Samajwadi Party candidate, Paras Nath Yadav, described Mr Sonkar's killing as the "murder of democracy".

Jaunpur district police chief Vinod Kumar Dohrey said a case had been registered and an investigation was under way.