Indian killed when police removed border blockage in Birgunj

Dozens injured, curfew clamped

BIRGUNJ/KATHMANDU, Nov 2: An Indian national was killed while two dozen protestors sustained injuries when police clashed with Madhesi protestors in Birgunj on Monday afternoon.
The deceased has been identified as 20-year-old Ashish Kumar Ram, a local of Raxaul-11, India, according to the District Administration Office (DAO), Parsa.
According to doctors at the Narayani sub-regional hospital, Ashish was brought in dead. The doctors confirmed that he had received bullet in his head.

Police had used the cell phone of the deceased to contact his kin. Subsequently, Ashok Ram, the father of the deceased, and maternal uncle Ravi Ram from Raxual arrived at the hospital. According to the Ram family, he had come to Birgunj to purchase goods when the incident took place.
Chief District Officer (CDO) Keshav Raj Ghimire also confirmed that an Indian national was killed in the clash between police and local protestors at Shankaracharya Gate in the Nepali territory near Nepal-India border.
“When Madhesi protestors started pelting stones at security personnel, the latter had to open fire,” Ghimire told Republica.
The clash erupted on the border after security personnel intervened and removed the 40-day-long blockage by agitating Madhesis. Before the clash, around 300 vehicles and containers that were stranded on the Nepali side crossed over to Raxaul, India.
After the police thrashed the protestors and removed the blockage, irate locals and cadres of the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) staged demonstrations in different parts of Birgunj.
The situation in Birgunj had remained tense throughout the day. To bring the situation under control, security personnel had lobbed around one hundred teargas canisters.
Local administration has clamped a curfew in Birgunj effective from 3 pm until further notice.
Meanwhile, over two dozen locals including 10 security personnel were injured during the clash. Agitating locals have vandalized the police outposts situated at Ghantaghar and Langadi, informed the chief of the District Police Office, Superintendent of Police Rajubabu Shrestha.
He further said that police sub-inspectors Krishna Chaudhary and Purushottam Subedi sustained injuries in protestors’ attack.
Over a dozen protestors who were injured receiving rubber bullets in different parts of their bodies are undergoing treatment at Narayani Sub-Regional Hospital in Birgunj.
Meanwhile, police arrested five demonstrators from the border while attempting to remove the blockage, according to SP Shrestha.
Pradip Yadav, chairperson of the Federal Socialist Forum Nepal Parsa distrct chapter claimed that police turned the peaceful protests into violent. “Police used excessive use of force and thrashed protestors. They seized the valuable items including mobile phone and cycles and torched tents,” said Yadav.