Zee Media Bureau
Bangkok: In what is expected to escalate the violence in the country, an anti-government protester was killed as he succumbed to the bullet fired in his torso.
The firing on the protest rally was done by unidentified gunmen, and besides killig one, two others were hurt.
The incident took place on early Saturday morning at around 3:30 am near a protest camp in Bangkok and the man killed was a 31 years old man, according to a government-run Erawan medical center.
The firing came just hours after the country`s military chief Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha urged both the sides to show restraint.
When asked about the possibility of a coup, he replied by saying, "That door is neither open nor closed ... it will be determined by the situation."
The protesters have been demonstrating since last month in a bid to topple the PM Yingluck Shinawatra.
In order to defuse the protests-driven crisis, the PM has proposed fresh elections which is scheduled for Feb 2.
The government also denied the request by the country`s Election Commission to delay the polls in wake of the protests.
Meanwhile, the protesters led by Suthep Thaugsuban have boycotted the protests, demanding the setting up of a people`s council.
Wanting to disrupt the elections, which is expected to being the Shinawatra government back to power, the protesters of late have been rallying at the venue of poll registrations.
On Thursday, protesters tried to overrun a Bangkok sports stadium where election candidates were gathering to draw lots for their positions on ballots. Masked protesters fired rocks from slingshots as they tried to break into the building to halt the process, while police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. Two people, including a police officer, were shot dead.
The protests were sparked last month after the Thai government tried to introduce Amnesty law which would have brought the PM`s brother Thaksin Shinawatra back to Thailand without serving a jail sentence for corruption.
The protesters allege that the current government is being run as a puppet regime by PM’s brother Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thaksin Shinawatra, who is now in a self-imposed exile, was ousted in 2006 in a coup after being accused of corruption and abuse of power.
