Siraha, April 25 :

Activists of the Chure Bhawar Ekata Samaj (CBES) gave continuity to their protests today as well. The CBSE has been calling for the declaration of the Chure Bhawar region as an autonomous state.

Activists of the CBES Siraha forced passengers to alight from a bus bound for Biratnagar from Siraha district on the Musarniya road section of the Mahendra Highway and vandalised it, saying that the bus defied the general strike.

Police personnel prevented the activists from setting the bus ablaze, the Asanpur Golbazaar area police office (APO) said.

Meanwhile, protesting the vandalism, transport entrepreneurs obstructed traffic by parking a vehicle on the Mahendra Highway at the Asanpur bazaar in Siraha from 9 am to 11 am. As a result, traffic was disrupted on the Pathlaiya-Nijgarh road section of the Mahendra Highway in Bara. Some vehicles plied under police escort, the Nijgarh APO said. The Nijgarh bazaar was partially closed while academic institutions remained open. Stating that two trucks defied the strike, CBSE supporters last night set the trucks on fire at Amlekhgunj in Bara on the Pathlaiya-Hetauda road section of the Tribhuvan Highway.

In Rautahat district, vehicles stayed off the road; academic institutions and business centres remained closed.