KATHMANDU - A Nepali policeman was shot dead Friday in the latest round of clashes to hit the country's southern plains as protests intensify against a proposed new constitution.
The officer died when around 300 demonstrators clashed with police in western Bardiya district, a local official told AFP. "A police constable was hit by a bullet on his right leg during the clashes, he died while undergoing treatment," said district chief Binod Bahadur Kunwar.
"We believe the bullet was fired by someone amongst the demonstrators. We are investigating right now," Kunwar told AFP. Anger has been building for weeks in southern Nepal after lawmakers struck a breakthrough deal on a new charter, spurred by April's devastating earthquake.
Plans to divide the Himalayan nation into seven provinces have sparked fury among historically marginalised communities including the Madhesi and Tharu ethnic minorities, who say the new internal borders will limit their political representation.
Tharu protesters in Bardiya, 350 kilometres (220 miles) west of Kathmandu, clashed with police, who responded with tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Security forces have shot dead 10 protesters since violence broke out last month, while eight police officers and an 18-month-old boy were killed during clashes in southwestern Nepal last week.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this week called for an end to the violence and urged lawmakers to hold talks with protesters.
Work on a new national constitution began in 2008, two years after the end of the Maoist insurgency that left an estimated 16,000 people dead and brought down the 240-year-old Hindu monarchy.
But negotiations faltered over the issue of internal borders and the resulting uncertainty left Nepal - one of the world's poorest countries - in political limbo.