BEIJING — A wheelchair-bound man who set off a home-made bomb at Beijing International Airport yesterday has been petitioning officials for compensation for eight years over an alleged beating by public security guards that caused his paralysis, local media reported.

The man, Ji Zhongxing, 34, was the only person hurt in the explosion, which occurred outside the arrival exit of Terminal 3, Xinhua reported, citing an initial police investigation. Li, whose left hand was amputated as a result of the blast, was taken by police from the hospital following surgery, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported, citing unidentified doctors.

The explosion triggered a further outcry on China’s Internet denouncing social injustice and violence that jeopardize public security. The incident occurred days after a watermelon vendor in Hunan province died following a clash with urban management officers.

Ji was beaten by public security guards in Dongguan, Guangdong province, when he earned a living with an unlicensed motorcycle taxi, according to a report in Blog Weekly, a Beijing news magazine. Wounds in his lower body festered as he was too poor to have them treated, the magazine said.

Ji lost a lawsuit in 2008 in Dongguan for the 2005 clash with the security guards, according to an article on the People’s Daily website today, citing a statement released by the city. There was no evidence showing his injury was caused by the alleged beating, it said. In 2010, after Ji petitioned in Beijing, Dongguan police granted him 100,000 yuan (about $16,300) for humanitarian assistance and he promised to stop petitioning, the statement said.

Internet postings also mentioned Chen Shuizong, a man in the Chinese city of Xiamen who started a bus fire on June 7 that killed 47 people. Police found notes in Chen’s home revealing that he was “unhappy and pessimistic about life” and wanted to air his grievances with arson.

After yesterday’s airport incident, aviation industry experts urged people not to take extreme measures to vent their anger as such action could disrupt public order, Xinhua said.