Jakarta – Police fired warning shots to stop a convoy of 2,000 people heading for a rally in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province, press reports said Friday.

The crowd lay down on the road linking Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh, and Medan in the neighbouring province of North Sumatra, after police forced their convoy of vehicles to halt around 18 kilometres east of the district capital Sigli on Thursday, the Jakarta Post said.

Police fired shots in the air when the vehicles refused to stop, and the people were then forced to leave the vehicles, the paper said. The crowds then spread out in the road in protest.

"We only plan to attend a meeting, nothing else ... the police didn't have to fire shots ... many panicked," one of the participants said.

They had planned to attend a mass rally at the Darussalam University in Banda Aceh to call for a self-determination referendum for Aceh.

"Such behavior, threatening people suspected of being rebels shows that there is no good intention on the part of the government to bring a peaceful settlement to problems in Aceh," another protester said.

Pidie police chief Lieutenant Colonel Endang E. Bagus said: "The measure was taken to prevent any harm against the residents since night travelling could have been dangerous."

The convoy grew to around 32 trucks and buses as it made its way from Ulim near the eastern border with North Aceh.

Meanwhile, the state Antara news agency reported that 73 refugees from Pidie, East Aceh and North Aceh – three districts that have borne the brunt of harsh military operations against separatist Islamic rebels – have died. Most of the refugees died from diarrhea, fever and other old age-related illnesses, said Ibrahim Hasyim of the Aceh health ministry staff.

Around 45,000 refugees from the three districts are still sheltering in camps in the province after soldiers shot dead 41 civilians during a May protest in Lhokseumawe, North Aceh.