Bangkok, Dec 1 (IANS) A mass rally by pro-government Red Shirts sparked violent clashes with opponents of the government, leaving at least two dead and many injured here.
Following the death of a university student, a Red Shirts supporter was found dead Saturday night, Xinhua reported citing the Bangkok Post.
In a bid to avoid further bloodshed, the Red Shirts Sunday declared an end to the demonstration at a stadium in the Thai capital and urged its supporters to go home.
Red Shirt leader Jatuporn Promphan, however, said four supporters and one university student were killed in the clashes.
Around 70,000 pro-government supporters showed up Saturday at the Rajamangala stadium to voice their support for the government.
Some of them were confronted by a group of protesters, including students from Ramkhamhaeng University, while trying to make their way into the stadium.
The first victim, identified by police as a 21-year-old student of the university, was shot at the back and the bullet pierced through his lung. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
A medical service centre based in Bangkok said Sunday that 35 people, who were injured in the scuffle, have been sent to hospital for treatment.
The prolonged anti-government movement in Thailand, which has triggered the biggest street protest since 2010, demands to uproot the so-called “Thaksin’s regime”, allegedly being carried out by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, sister of Thaksin Shinawatra, a telecommunications tycoon and former premier who was ousted in a 2006 coup.