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Police in south Nepal fire at protesters; Indian man killed

BINAJ GURUBACHARYA, Associated Press

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Protesters demonstrating against Nepal's new constitution clashed with police near the country's southern border with India on Monday, leaving an Indian man dead, authorities said.

Nepalese police opened fire to disperse the protesters after the clashes broke out, killing an Indian man who was on his way to the town of Birgunj in southern Nepal, said Indian police official Rakesh Kumar.

Nepalese officials said there were clashes in Birgunj and the border area, but would not confirm the man's death or give any more details.

News stations in Nepal reported that several people were injured in the clashes.

Members of the ethnic Madhesi people have been protesting Nepal's new constitution, saying it divides the Madhesis among a number of states. The Madhesis, who want the creation of a larger state that they would dominate, have imposed a general strike in southern Nepal and blocked the border crossing, resulting in a severe fuel shortage across Nepal.

At least 45 people have been killed in the protests since August. There is no official count of the injured.

Earlier on Monday, Nepalese police were able to clear protesters from the border point, allowing more than 200 trucks and vehicles to cross over to India. However, hundreds of protesters gathered and began attacking the police with stones and sticks.

Police official Hobindra Bogati said five protesters were detained when police removed them and the tents they had pitched in the no man's land between the two countries. He said that 205 trucks and other vehicles had crossed from Birgunj to Raxaul, India, and that more were lining up.

However, trucks bringing fuel and other goods to Nepal were still blocked by Indian customs officials.

Police raided the protesters' camp before dawn when they were sleeping, removed the tents and lined up the trucks to leave Nepal.

On Sunday, talks between the government and Madhesi representatives made some progress.

Following the one-day talks, Deputy Prime Minister Kamal Thapa said the government would address the Madhesis' demand for a larger state through discussions with other political parties.

Initially, the government insisted that the matter of the size of states be resolved through a government-appointed commission, but Thapa said it would be discussed as a political issue, as demanded by the protesters.

The government also agreed to the United Democratic Madhesi Front's demands that families of killed protesters be given monetary compensation, that the government pay for medical care for the injured, and that cases against the jailed be withdrawn.

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Associated Press writer Indrajit Singh in Patna, India, contributed to this report.

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