According to the agitating teachers, the police team led by Inspector Rishi Dhungana used excessive force against the protestors while they were trying to enter the district education office at 12.30 am.
“We were about to go inside the office when the police indiscriminately charged batons and fired tear gas shells to disperse us. Our protest was peaceful and we had not expected the police to use excessive force,” said Shanta Kandel, one of the injured teachers. [break]
“Such an extreme measure from the police was not expected,” remarked Kandel, who is receiving treatment at local Deuti Nursing Home.
Other teachers, including Shanti Dhakal, Ramprasad Lamsal, Rajiv Bali, Deepakraj Acharya and Parbati Giri severely injured in the clash have also been admitted to the same nursing home.
Acharya said police hit him from behind as he was trying to part away from the crowd. “I had moved outside the office. But the police did not spare me,” he said.
Lamsal, who has received serious head injury said, “Police intervention today was quite shocking. The police did not even spare those who had already moved out of the education office,” he said.
District education officer Ram Prasad Upadhayay urged the police to calm down but to no avail. Later, Chief District Officer Hari Pyakurel and SP Gobinda Ram Pariyar reached the spot to bring the situation under control.
Police personnel including Shyam Jung Shah, Prem Bist, Padamsingh Dhami and Narayan Baduwal, sustained serious injuries when the teachers pelted stones at them. Pariyar informed 17 other police personnel have sustained minor injuries.
CDO Pyakurel said that the teachers had been requested not to enter the office. “The situation turned ugly when the police tried to take the situation under control,” he said.
The teachers in Surkhet had participated in the nationwide agitation called by Nepal Teacher Union and Nepal Educational Republic Forum (NERF).
Meanwhile, issuing press statement, teachers´ unions have called for the closure of schools on Monday. They have demanded immediate action against the guilty.
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