A Bolivian government minister has been beaten to death by striking mine workers after being kidnapped, the government said.

    Rodolf Illanes, deputy interior minister, had gone to talk to protesting workers in Panduro, around 160 km (100 miles) from the capital, La Paz, but was intercepted and kidnapped. "At this present time, all the indications are that our deputy minister Rodolfo Illanes has been brutally and cowardly assassinated," the BBC quoted minister of government Carlos Romero as saying. 

    Reymi Ferreira, the defence minister, said that Illanes had been "savagely beaten" to death by the striking miners. The government was trying to recover his body, Romero said. 

    Protests by miners in Bolivia demanding changes to laws turned violent this week after a highway was blockaded. Two workers were killed on Wednesday after being shot by police, and the government said 17 police officers had been wounded.

Source: QNA