Twenty-one people, including two women, were burnt alive on Thursday when the house of a CITU-affiliated workers'
union leader was set ablaze in a tea estate in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district.

Inspector General of Police (law and order) Chayan Mukherjee said some unidentified people set the house of Tarakeswar Lohar, secretary of a CITU-affiliated union, on fire in the Dalgaon tea garden.
 
When police reached the spot around 0830 IST, the house was in flames.

The fire was doused and  21 charred bodies were recovered, he said and added that so far 106 people had been arrested in connection with the incident.

Mukherjee said there was some tension in the tea garden over recruitment of some clerks and the incident could be connected to it.

To a question, the IGP said that he was not aware whether there was a clash between two trade unions.

Additional police forces have been rushed to the spot.