DAMAULI, APRIL 5

Staffers of Bhanu Municipality, Tanahun, have halted service delivery to people indefinitely protesting the arrest of some staffers.

Police took four persons, including a policeman, under control while they were carrying goods from Phushretar to the customs office. They have been accused of stealing goods from the office.

According to staffers, they resorted to the protest after they were compelled to sign a fake document in the presence of people's representatives.

Issuing a press statement today, the staffers said they were not safe in the office and there was no working environment for them after the incident.

The municipality delivers services from the building of the customs office which falls in Ward 1 of the municipality, though the municipality has its office in Ward 2, Phursetar.

The police team deployed from Bhanumukam Area Police Office had arrested the four persons while they were shifting the goods. The staffers closed the office saying it was not safe for them to work from the building of the customs office.

Acting Chief Administrative Officer Dhruba Raj Poudel said the storekeeper, office staffers and police did not steal the goods. Poudel added that his office had written to the police stating that the staffers were not involved in any kind of theft, but were executing the work assigned to them.

The locals of Phusretar have been staging protest ever since the municipality started providing services from the customs office, even though its office is in Phusretar.

The staffers said that they were accused of stealing goods with ill intention.

Meanwhile, they urged the political parties, people's representatives and civil society members to create a conducive environment for them to resume work.

A version of this article appears in the print on April 6, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.