Indian legislator held over beating of TV reporters

A ruling party lawmaker in India's eastern Bihar state suspected of links to an alleged rape and murder was arrested Thursday after his guards and supporters beat up a television crew.

A police spokesman in the state capital Patna said Anant Singh, a member of Bihar's ruling Janata Dal (People's Party), was charged with the abduction and assault of a two-member crew from the private NDTV television station.

Five of his supporters were also arrested, the spokeman said.

Clips broadcast on several Indian news channels showed Singh's supporters, as well as his police guards, battering the two journalists in public before dragging them inside Singh's home. AFP