A 47-year-old man from Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram district was shot dead in Jordan allegedly by security forces while he was attempting to illegally cross the border of the country to Israel, The Indian Express reported on Sunday.

The man, identified as Thomas Gabriel, had gone to Jordan on a tourist visa. Another man, identified as 43-year-old Edison, was also with him while trying to cross the border and sustained injuries allegedly from a bullet, the Hindustan Times reported.

Gabriel and Edison, both from a fishing community and working as autorickshaw drivers, were residents of Thumba, which is located on the outskirts of the state capital.

The incident took place on February 10, five days after the two men had arrived in Jordan. Following the incident, Edison was deported to India and arrived at Thiruvananthapuram on Friday, The Indian Express reported.

Unidentified members from Gabriel’s family told The Indian Express that they were notified of his death by an official at the Indian Embassy in Amman on Saturday. The family members also said that they were unaware of his trip to Jordan or his attempt to cross illegally into Israel.

“Thomas and another person were trying to cross the Jordan border at Karkak district illegally,” The Indian Express quoted a letter from the Indian Embassy sent to Gabriel’s family as saying. “The security forces tried to stop them but they did not listen to the warning. The guards opened fire on them. One bullet hit Thomas in his head and he died on the spot. Later, his body was sent to a local hospital.”

Karak is one of the governorates of Jordan and is located south-west of the capital Amman. It borders the Dead Sea, which is a landlocked salt lake that is also bordered by the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Israel.

The letter noted that Gabriel’s body would be transported to India after officials verified his identity.

According to unidentified members of both Thomas and Edison’s families, the two men were among four persons who had gone to Jordan on February 5. All four of them were helped by another man from Kerala who was working in the country.

Edison had arrived at Thumba on Friday with bullet injuries, a family member said. “Then only we came to know about the death of Thomas,” the relative said. “In the meantime, the Embassy had sent an email to one of the relatives informing about the death of Thomas.”

The Indian Embassy in Jordan on Sunday said that it had “learnt of the sad demise of an Indian national in unfortunate circumstances”.

It added: “The Embassy is in touch with the family of the deceased and is working closely with Jordanian authorities for transportation of mortal remains of the deceased.”