A man who sustained a wound from a bullet fired by police in Jhapa on Wednesday has died in the course of treatment.

Rafiq-ul Alam, 38, died at B&C Medical College Teaching Hospital in Birtamod on Wednesday evening, said Chief District Officer of Jhapa Udaya Bahadur Magar. 

Alam was shot on his back during a clash between police personnel and the locals of Kamatoli over the issue of ox slaughter.

“The police started firing at us and a bullet went right through my brother’s back. There was blood everywhere,” Alam’s brother Samsul Haque said.

The critically injured Alam was rushed to Birtamod for treatment.

Police Inspector Sachan Shrestha from the Area Police Office in Kumarkhod claimed that the police team was compelled to fire warning shots into the air to disperse the hostile mob.

“A police officer was also critically injured in the incident. He is undergoing treatment at the Birtamod-based hospital,” said Shrestha.

According to the District Police Office, the clash ensued when the locals of Kamatoli on Wednesday obstructed a police vehicle in Jhapa Rural Municipality Ward No.3 from taking two individuals arrested for ox slaughtering to the District Court. Police personnel at the incident site had opened fire in retaliation to the angry mob, the office said.

Meanwhile, the deceased’s family said that Alam was not involved in the ox slaughter incident. Haque, who is also an eye witness to the incident, said, “My brother was a tractor driver in Resunga. He had just arrived at Kamatoli bazaar after working a day in Resunga. When the commotion broke out in the bazaar area and the police started firing warning shots, we tried to flee the scene. That’s when a bullet struck my brother.”

Alam’s friends, family members and the local community of Kamatoli have refused to receive his body. They have demanded that Alam be declared a martyr and police issue an apology.

“We won’t receive the body until our demand is addressed,” Mohammad Tahir, a local leader, said.

On Thursday, an all party meeting held in the District Administration Office in Jhapa decided to provide Rs 50,000 to Alam’s family to perform his funeral rites. The meeting also agreed to demand Rs 1 million as compensation from the provincial government and perform postmortem of the deceased.

A probe committee led by the Assistant Chief District Officer Umesh Pandey was formed on Thursday to investigate the incident.

Alam is survived by his wife and five children. He was the sole breadwinner of his family.