Lawmaker shot dead in India

A lawmaker from the ruling party of India's West Bengal has been shot dead by unidentified gunmen, officials said.

Thirty-eight-year-old Satyajit Biswas from Trinamool Congress (TMC) party was shot dead "from a point-blank range" on Saturday at a village in Nadia district, about 122 km north of Kolkata, the capital city of West Bengal.

"Though he was immediately removed to the nearest hospital but doctors there declared him brought dead," a police official said.

Biswas was attacked during the Saraswati Puja, a religious ceremony celebration in the area.

"He had come down from the stage where a cultural programme was taking place," the official said.

Following the killing, the assailants fled from the spot.

District TMC president Gourishankar Dutta blamed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for Biswas's murder, an allegation strongly rejected by BJP.

"Whenever such attacks take place these people blame BJP but until now not a single activist or leader of BJP was found responsible for such acts," BJP state president Dilip Ghosh told an Indian TV channel News18.