Rajbiraj, August 19

Barely had the curfew lifted than the agitation took off in Bhardaha, Saptari, once again.

Earlier, Saptari district administration had clamped a 13-hour curfew in Bhardaha following the death of a demonstrator in police firing in the course of an indefinite Madhes bandh enforced by Samyukta Madhesi Morcha to protest the preliminary draft of the statute, yesterday.

The curfew that came into effect from 4:00am yesterday afternoon was lifted from 5:00am today.

According to DSP Narayan Chimariya of district police office, the agitators today torched two motorbikes and a police beat at Bhardaha chowk of Bhardaha.

To protest the firing, demonstrations were also held in Rajbiraj, Kanchanpur and Kalyanpur.

In Rajbiraj, the Bar units of the appellate court and Saptari District Court expressed solidarity with the ongoing agitation and sought action against policeman involved in the firing and the official responsible for giving him the order to fire.

In view of the situation, Saptari Chief District Officer Birendra Kumar Yadav summoned representatives of human rights activists, journalists, civil society and non-government organisations at his office and expressed sadness at yesterday’s fatal firing. He also urged everyone to exercise restraint to prevent further escalation of the situation.

Meanwhile, agitators refused to receive the body of Rajhiv Raut, who was killed in yesterday’s firing, putting forth a three-point demand including that of declaring him a martyr, a monument for him at the incident site and employment for his family members and free education for his kids. A meeting of Madhesi morcha held at the site today decided in this regard.

The decision comes at a time when preparations are on to bring Raut’s body to Saptari from BP Koirala Institute of Health and Sciences in Dharan after post-mortem.

Earlier yesterday night, the morcha had put forward a six-point demand seeking dismissal of Chief District Officer Birendra Kuamar Yadav and SP Shishir Karmacharya, besides investigation into the incident and punishment for others involved in the shooting.

The morcha also sought free treatment for the injured and unconditional release of its cadres who have been arrested, besides martyr status for the deceased Raut and compensation of Rs 2 million to the victim’s family.