According to police, the injured are Gopal Dutta Joshi, 17, Hari Prasad Joshi, 20, Bhan Dev Bhatta, 16, and Krishna Mahara, 17, all of Jhalari-2, Kanchanpur. All of them except Mahara have been referred to Kohalpur Hospital by Mahakali Zonal Hospital. [break]
A police patrol had mistaken the locals, who were guarding their own village, for robbers and opened fire, the District Police Office said. They were brought to hospital by the police themselves following the incident which took place at 10 p.m.
Police claimed that they opened fire in response to a shot that came from among the locals. However, the locals refuted the police claim and said they had just set off a fire-cracker.
Meanwhile, the locals also alleged that the police were drunk when they visited the village on patrol. Chief of District Police Office Madhav Nepal said the case is under investigation.
The incident happened at a time when locals had started a night vigil after eight houses were robbed in neighboring Bhamka village three days ago. They had become more suspicious Friday evening as they had seen the movement of unfamiliar individuals in the daytime. So the youths had decided to stay awake and on high alert throughout the night and started their vigil with the setting off of fire-crackers at 8 p.m. Meanwhile, Area Police Office Jhalari was informed that the robbers had gone down to the village and half a dozen cops were sent to intervene.
"We were walking toward the village," said Sub-inspector Lal Bahadur Air. "After suddenly noticing that a group was hurtling toward us, we opened fire."
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