KATHMANDU, Feb 17: One person was killed and several others injured on Sunday as police and ethnic Madheshi protesters clashed in southwest Nepal, police said.

It was the first death since Madheshi groups began a strike last week over a broad range of issues, including regional autonomy.

The violence took place in Nepalgunj, 320 km southwest of Kathmandu as a thousand-strong crowd tried to set fire to government offices to enforce the stoppage.

“One person was killed in the clash but I have no details about how he died,” police officer Om Prakash Waagle said from Nepalgunj. Independent Kantipur television reported the man was killed in police firing.

Waagle said about a dozen others, including five police officers, were injured when police used batons, tear gas and rounds fired over the heads of protesters who in turn pelted the officers with stones.

Authorities had imposed a curfew in Nepalgunj to try to restore calm.

The shutdown has crippled large parts of the southern plains bordering India — called the Madhesh — since Wednesday, forcing vehicles off the road and closing schools, factories and shops.

Supplies of fuel to the capital Kathmandu have been hampered, resulting in shortages and long queues at petrol stations.

Media reports said protesters and police fought pitched battles elsewhere in the region, injuring dozens.

The Madheshis have a broad set of demands ranging from regional autonomy, to more jobs for their community in the government, army and police, to electoral reforms that will ensure they have a greater role in running the country.—Reuters