Biratnagar, June 15:

Life in Morang, Sunsari and Saptari districts was crippled today due to the bandhs called by the Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum (MJF) and the Maoists.

The MJF had called the two-district bandh to press for the release of two MJF cadres, who were arrested by the police on the charge of pelting stones at a vehicle carrying CPN-UML leader Bharat Mohan Adhikari some days ago.

Business centres were shut while vehicles stayed off the roads. Only a handful of academic institutions and industries remained open. Due to the bandh, hundreds of passengers originating from the east were stuck at Urlabari on the Mahendra highway.

Meanwhile, cadres of the MJF torched copies of Nepal Samacharpatra and Jana Bidroha dailies in Duhabi of Sunsari. “MJF cadres took under control vehicles bound for Itahari from Biratnagar and torched 7,500 copies of Nepal Samacharpatra and 2,500 copies of Jana Bidroha,” the police said.

The vehicles were being used to distribute copies of the newspapers. Issuing a joint statement, the Sunsari chapters of the Press Chautari, Press Union, Federation of Nepalese Journalists and Revolutionary Journalists’ Union condemned the incident.

Meanwhile, life in Saptari district was affected due to a Maoist-called three-day Saptari bandh.

The Maoists had called the bandh to protest the killing of two Maoist activists in Marchawar. Business centres, academic institutions and industries remained shut while traffic stayed off the road in Saptari on the last day of the Maoist-called bandh.