The businessmen torched two motorbikes belonging to the UDMF leaders at Janaki Chowk. The motorbike with registration number Ja 2 Pa 5419 of Sadbhawna Party District Chairman Sanjay Singh and another motorcycle Ja 3 Pa 2991 of Tarai Madhes Democratic Party District Chairman Rupnarayan Mandal were burnt into ashes.
The local traders retaliated after some demonstrators participating in the rally vandalized a cloth shop in front of the Rajdevi temple.
Singh pointed finger at a group led by senior Vice-President Bijay Sah and Secretary Surendra Bhandari of Janakpur Chamber of Commerce and Industries (JCCI) attacking the protestors and torching motorbikes.
However, Sah and Bhandari refuted such accusation. “The JCCI has been lending its full support to the ongoing movement for five months. We're not against the movement. We have demanded action against those involved in the arson,” Sah told Republica.
Bhandari said that he had reached the incident site only after the motorbikes were torched. He blamed that the cadres of Nepali Congress and UML had incited the confrontation.
JCCI President Shiv Shankar Sah said that the local businessmen were not involved in Thursday's incident although they have become infuriated by the prolonged Madhes movement. The JCCI, issuing a press statement, has condemned the incident. According to President Sah, the local administration had reportedly used the NC and UML cadres during the incident.
Following the incident, market places, which used to be open for some time, have remained completely shut down.
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