Hundreds of Indian tea estate workers surrounded a plantation owner's home and set it on fire, killing him and his wife, police say.

Officers recovered the charred bodies of the couple from the burned remains of their house in remote Tinsukhia district, in India's north-eastern state of Assam.

The plantation had been rocked by labour trouble over the past few months and some workers had been suspended a few weeks ago.

Around 700 workers armed with bows and arrows surrounded the house yesterday and set it on fire, trapping the owner and his wife. Police are investigating but no arrests have been made.

More than half of India's tea production comes from some 1,000 tea estates across Assam.

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