GAUHATI, India -- Indian police say a television reporter has been accidentally shot dead during police firing to disperse angry protesters demanding the arrest of a Naga separatist in the country's troubled northeast.

L.M. Khaute, a senior police officer, said Bwizamani Singh, 36, was covering a protest Sunday in Imphal, the capital of Manipur state when he was shot.

The protesters were demanding the arrest of Living Stone, who fled after allegedly molesting a Manipuri actress and firing at two people who tried to protect her during a stage performance Tuesday.

Living Stone is a member of a separatist group that has been holding peace talks with the Indian government since a truce in 1997.