SARSHWOR (SIRAHA) : Saarshwor VDC in Siraha remained tense throughout the day on Friday after an unidentified group entered the VDC, vandalized some houses and set fires.
Two dozen people were injured when the police tried to take the situation under control. The injured are undergoing treatment for minor injuries in district hospital and private clinics. [break]
According to the Superintendent of Police Purna Chandra Joshi, an all-party meeting was held to resolve the dispute between two local communities but an external group tried to incite communal violence.
Police fired 31 rounds in the air and lobbed 33 tear gas canisters to bring the situation under control. The local administration clamped curfew in the area but was not able to contain violence.
Raj Dev Yadav, chairman of Nepal Red Cross Society, Siraha, claimed some outsiders had come to the VDC to incite communal violence. The curfew remains in effect from 2.40 pm on Friday to 4.30 am on Saturday morning.
A large number of personnel from the Nepal Police and the Armed Police force have been deployed in the area.
According to the Chief District Officer (CDO) Anil Thakur, a probe team led by administrative officer at the District Administration Office Janardan Prasad Gautam has been formed to investigate into the incident.
According to a statement issued by the Nepal Police headquarters, the two groups clashed after three Muslim youths teased Hindu women from Dhanusha, who were heading for Shiva temple in Sarshwor-1, a few days ago.
Police said the situation tuned worse after 2,000 people from the Hindu community tried to enter into the Muslim village Friday morning. Police had intervened to disperse the crowd. However, the violent crowd set hay stacks in the area on fire before being driven out of the area.
Later, around 8,000 people from the Hindu community made yet another attempt to enter the Muslim settlement at around 1 pm on Friday defying the curfew. The crowd set six huts in the Muslim settlement on fire.
Regional Administrator Shankar Prasad Adhikari, Deputy Inspector General, Upendra Kant Aryal, among other officials, had visited the incident area to take stock of the situation.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Interim Election Council Khil Raj Regmi said that he was saddened to hear about the unfortunate incident. He has also urged both the sides to resolve the dispute through discussion.
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