SAPTARI, Aug 22: Four days after a protester's death in Saptari district, the District Police Office (DPO) on Friday issued a formal statement regarding the incident.
Organizing a press meet in the district headquarters Rajbiraj, SP Shishir Kumar Karmacharya said the police cannot be held responsible for Rajiv's death and injuries to protestors.
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"Protestors have been demanding investigation into the incident," said SP Karmacharya. "Police had fired in self-defense after protestors opened fire," he said.
Although the police have made public the names of protestors and police personnel involved in the clash, the statement does not explain how they were injured.
Earlier, DSP Narayan Prasad Chimariya, Chief District Officer (CDO) Birendra Kumar Yadav and Eastern Regional Police Office had issued separate statements saying the police fired in self defense after protestors attacked the Bhardah-based area police office with petrol bombs. Rajib Raut, a protestor from Bhardah VDC, was killed in police firing on Tuesday.
At the press meet, chief of the Saptari DPO reiterated that the protestors hurled petrol bombs, stones and open fire at the police, but refuted that the police had killed Rajiv and shot at protestors. He said the police baton-charged protestors and fired 12 rounds of tear gas shells to disperse them on Tuesday morning.
"The demonstrators also attacked a vehicle of the Armed Police Force. The police fired 12 rounds of tear gas shells and hurled one gas grenade at the protestors to control the situation," he said. The statement says that the situation went out of control after the protestors attacked the police office. It was only then that the police fired 32 rounds of tear gas shells and 10 rounds of rubber bullets.
Police said the protestors vandalized four police vans, including those parked on the premises of the police office. The statement also claimed that the protestors set ablaze police uniforms, four bicycles and important documents during the attack.
Police security to vehicles in Banke
The police on Friday escorted stranded vehicles to help them reach their destinations in Banke district, according to our Kohalpur-based correspondent Tekendra Basyal. Transport services have come to a complete standstill in the district due to the banda enforced by the Madhesi parties' alliance.
The police have been escorting more than two dozen passenger buses and 50 lorries on a daily basis, according to SP Basanta Pant, chief of the District Police Office, Banke.
Chief District Officer (CDO) Dev Prakash Lekhak, said, "We have also requested vehicle owners not to drive alone.
15, including 2 cops, injured in Kailali clash
At least 13 protestors and two policemen were injured in a clash at Taurepur village of Durgauli VDC in Kailali district on Friday, according to our Dhangadhi-based reporter Dil Bahadur Chhatyal.
Police had fired half a dozen rounds of tear gas shells to bring the situation under control.
The situation had taken an ugly turn when Tharuhat supporters attempted to obstruct a rally organized by the protestors demanding undivided far-west province, according to Chief District Officer of Kailali Ram Kumar Shrestha.
