A team from Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and the District Forest Office (DFO) Sunsari had cleared away the huts on Friday afternoon after a heated clash between the squatters and locals. During the clash, some were injured while a few protestors were arrested. [break]
According to Anil Gurung, one of the protestors, they called banda on the highway protesting "the ruthless beating and arrests". “DFO has arrested eight innocent victims and many others were injured including some pregnant women,” said Gurung. “We will call off the banda only after the DFO provides monetary compensation to the injured,” added Gurung.
All the detained have been kept at DFO.
Explaining the arrests, Bijaya Lal Karna, the district forest officer, said that they were detained for intervening and retaliating against police actions. “The investigation will start after Sunday, when the office opens. Only then we will know whether the detained are innocent or not,” said Karna.
The highway banda has affected daily life in the area. The protestors have not allowed even motorcycles to operate on the highway. Locals complained that they have been unable to export their agriculture produce due to the banda.
Before this incident, on February 11, District Administration Office had vandalized squatters huts in the same area. But only after a week, the squatters had resettled on the same land.
Meanwhile, locals of Dharan Municipality ward numbers 11 and 12 informed that supply of drinking water coming from Bishnupaduka VDC has suddenly stopped from Friday coinciding with the banda. The drinking water coming from the VDC had been supplied to 1,200 households of Dharan-11 and 12.
“We have heard that the drinking water pipe has been cut off after Friday´s incident,” said Bikash Rai, a member of Drinking Water Management User´s Committee, Dharan. However, Jal Kanya Forest Consumers Group refuted the report and said leakage might have disrupted the supply.
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