Special report: Tibet: Its Past and Present

    XINING, April 30 (Xinhua) — The funeral ceremony for Lama Cedain, the police officer shot and killed during the pursuit of a riot leader in northwest China’s Qinghai Province, was held on Wednesday.

    More than 1,000 officials and ordinary people participated in the memorial held in the funeral home of the Huzhu Tu Autonomous County of Qinghai. The officer’s body, covered with the red flag of the Communist Party of China (CPC), lay quietly among flowers, and his photo was surrounded by a white hada, a Tibetan scarf for blessings.

    Lama Cedain left a 6-year-old son. His relatives and colleagues wept at the ceremony, while his wife, Garsamcog, was besotted by grief.

    The 33-year-old Lama Cedain started his career in 1996. He joined the CPC in 2003 and was in charge of criminal investigations in the Public Security Bureau of Dari County, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Golog. On Monday, he was killed by six bullets in a gun battle and died at about 6:30 a.m..

    ”He died for safeguarding our peaceful life, and gods would bless him,” a local Tibetan granny said, softly crying at the ceremony.

    Following the March 14 unrest in Lhasa, a handful of insurgents seeking “Tibetan independence” incited herdsmen in Hongke Town, Dari County, to riot on March 21, the Qinghai Provincial Department of Public Security said.

    After a month long investigation, the police moved on Monday to arrest the suspected leader. The suspect resisted and gunfire broke out.

    Other officers killed the suspect after Lama Cedain was struck.

    His body was moved to Xining, Qinghai’s capital, on Tuesday.