A 47-year-old Tibetan named Babo, was accidentally shot dead during a dispute with police on August 15 in southwest China's Sichuan Province, a local government spokesman said Monday.

The spokesman with Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Garze said, Babo, leading a group of more than 30 villagers of Jiaxu Village of Baiyu County in the prefecture, attacked police in the courtyard of Baiyu County Public Security Bureau and was later fatally wounded by a stray bullet when police fired warning shots with an anti-riot shotgun.

According to the spokesman, on August 14, the Baiyu county police detained an individual businessman, Fu Liang, from Mianyang City, for illegally exploiting gold mines with some villagers in Jiaxu Village and damaging the grassland in the county since April, 2010.

The spokesman said, on August 15, more than 30 villagers from Jiaxu Village sped on motorcycles to the Public Security Bureau of Baiyu County and asked the police to release Fu.

The villagers then attacked the police with knives, clubs and stones during the dispute. A total of 17 police were injured, four seriously, the spokesman said.

Police had to fire warning shots to stop the dispute and found later Babo had been accidentally wounded. Babo was rushed to hospital but died on August 16, according to the spokesman.

Police arrested 35 people involved in the attack, the spokesman said.

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