Rajbiraj, March 26

At least 12 protesters were injured in Saptari district when police intervened a rally and a corner meet organised by activists of the Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum defying the prohibitory orders. MJF central vice-chairman Kishore Kumar Biswas and district president Shailendra Prasad Shah were among those injured. Police have arrested 15 protesters. The protesters went around the city carrying party flags and gathered at the Neta Chowk for a street corner meet.

Several protesters, including Biswas and Shah, were injured when the police intervened in the corner meet. Among the injured, Shailendra Prasad Shah, Navneet Jha and Gulat Shah have been admitted to the Sagarmatha Zonal Hospital.

Central general secretary of the MJF-affiliated Youth Forum, Radheshyam Pandit, central president of the Madhesi Lawyers’ Society Ashok Kumar Chaudhary, Shashi Kumar Karna, Krinanda Jha, Bijayendra Yadav, Ram Kumar Bharati, Shyam Narayan Yadav, Badri Shah, Satish Kumar Shah, Baleshwor Yadav, Janaki Raman Yadav have been kept in custody at the Rajbiraj area police office, police said.

Police fired seven rounds of teargas shells when protesters tried to resume the street corner meet even after the intervention, eyewitnesses said. There was a clash between protesters and police, which continued till this evening.

Issuing a prohibitory order, the Saptari district police office had urged all concerned not to stage any sit-in or rally in Saptari from March 26 to March 28.