Chinese security forces have opened fire on a group of monks from Nyitso monastery in Tawo for protecting the body of Kalsang Yeshi, who set himself on fire to protest China's repressive policies towards Tibetans on December 23, 2014.
A source from South India who has close ties to the area tells VOA that the armed forces fired shots at the monks from Nyitso for attempting to prevent the confiscation of Yeshi's body by the Chinese authorities, who have forcibly taken the bodies away from their families and communities in previous incidences of self-immolations inside Tibet.
A picture surfacing the net also shows an injured monk with a gun shot wound penetrating his lower arm. Two monks are reported to have been shot, while several others remain injured.
Kalsang Yeshi, originally from the Thewa settlement, located in the Kunor area of Tawu was a much respected and civic minded person who comforted the elderly with Buddhist teachings and also tutored children and the elderly in writing and reading in Tibetan.
The situation in Tawo area remains tense with heightened security placed on all means of communication.