The police on Saturday lobbed tear gas shells and fired in air here to disperse a mob, who were protesting the death of a watchman after he was allegedly slapped by an assistant sub inspector.

Lala Chand, the ASI, was suspended from service and subsequently arrested following the death of Kewal Ram on Friday after he was slapped by the policeman for disobeying his orders, a senior police official said.

Seven persons, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police (Akhnoor) S Sharma, were injured in the clashes as protestors fought a pitched battle with police forcing the latter to resort to cane-charging and lobbing tear gas shells in Bantalab, near here, SSP (Jammu) Mukesh Singh told PTI.

As protestors, who alleged that Ram died in custody, started pelting stones at the party, he said, police fired five rounds in the air to disperse the group.

Denying that Ram died in custody, Singh said he breathed his last in a hospital after a heart attack.

Chand, who was accompanying the officials of revenue department demarcating government land at Panchwati housing Colony Enclave in Mishriwalla, asked Ram to help the team in the job, police said. Ram refused to do so and in a fit of rage, the ASI allegedly slapped him, police said.

On reaching home after the incident, Ram complained that he was having chest pain. He was rushed to a hospital where he was given some treatment. He was also allowed to go home. But after a few hours, Ram again felt pain in chest and died en route while being taken to Government Medical College.