Rautahat, October 15:

The residents of Shivanagar Chowk in Rautahat staged a five-hour chakkajam this morning at Birendra Highway, obstructing traffic and chanting slogans against police, claiming the involvement of a member of the local mobile police unit in a robbery on Friday night. According to the locals, a group of around eight robbers tried to loot Devdhari Oil Stores at Shivanagar Chowk. Hundreds of locals retaliated against the looters after the shop-owner Shiva Dhari Jaiswal cried for help. The residents managed to capture one robber, Bir Bahadur Yadav, who, they claimed, was a member of the mobile police unit, and was posted at the Area Police Office, Garuda.

Traffic resumed on the highway at 9 am only after SP Keshav Prasad Adhikari and Major Amiraj Acharya of Barah Dal Company at Purenwa convinced the residents that appropriate action would be taken against the arrested man. The police said the locals beat up Yadav mercilessly before handing him over to police.