New Delhi - A protester was killed by a rubber bullet in southern India Wednesday, a day after 10 were shot dead when police opened fire on a rally demanding the closure of a copper plant, officials said.

Tuesday’s police firing, which also left about 80 people injured, sparked intense criticism. Amnesty International said police had “many questions to answer” and those responsible should be brought to justice.

On Wednesday police fired rubber bullets at the crowd and sent volleys of live ammunition overhead, officials and witnesses said, after protesters in the port city of Tuticorin hurled home-made bombs and pelted them with stones.

“We fired live ammunition in the air to disperse the protesters. But the mob continued to pelt stones and bombs. They were setting fire to vehicles,” a police officer told AFP. “We were forced to fire rubber bullets which unfortunately hit one man in the spine and he died,” he added. Another police officer at the scene also said a 22-year-old man had died.

A video on social media Wednesday showing a police officer atop a bus pointing an assault rifle at the crowds has fuelled fresh anger.

The demonstrators are demanding the closure of a copper plant on the outskirts of Tuticorin in the southern state of Tamil Nadu owned by British-based mining giant Vedanta Resources, which they say is causing environmental damage. Witnesses said demonstrators set fire to a police bus Wednesday and ransacked a liquor shop. TV footage showed police in riot gear patrolling streets littered with stones and burnt tyres.

Rebels blow up farmhouse of India’s ruling BJP lawmaker

India’s Naxalite rebels have blown up a farmhouse belonging to a lawmaker of the country’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the central state of Chhattisgarh, police said Wednesday.

“The attack by the left-wing rebels on BJP parliamentarian Vikram Usendi’s farmhouse in the state’s Kanker district, using improvised explosive devices, took place late Tuesday night. However, there have been no reports of any casualty,” a police official said.

Chhattisgarh is often hit by Naxalite violence.

Their insurgency began in the eastern state of West Bengal in late 1960s, spreading to more than one-third of India’s administrative districts.

Though major offensives by security forces in recent years have pushed the rebels back to their forest strongholds and the levels of violence have fallen, but hit-and-run attacks are still common.