Curfew continues at Krishnanagar

Bhairahawa, November 1

A 10-point agreement was inked to settle the dispute that had erupted between two groups of people over the immersion of Laxmi idols at Kapilvastu’s Krishnanagar last night.

With the agreement, normalcyis returning to Krishnanagar bazaar. The dispute had flared up when some people pelted stones and bricks from rooftops at the rally taken out to immerse Laxmi idols. The rally was en route to Badhya Lake through a mosque at Jhandanagar to immerse the idols on Wednesday evening.

Following the agreement, the idols were immersed at 2:00 am today, said Kapilvastu Chief District Officer Gajendra Bahadur Shrestha.

After the dispute took a nasty turn, Kapilvastu DAO had imposed indefinite curfew at Krishnanagar bazaar from 11:00am yesterday. Suraj Kumar Pandey, 20, from India was killed in police firing when some people staged demonstration defying the curfew.

Pandey’s death had plunged the bazaar area into tension. Around a dozen police personnel and protesters were injured in the clash.

Province lawmaker Birendra Kanaudiya and Krishnanagar Municipality Mayor Ratan Prasad Sah had represented the protesters at the meeting held with the District Security Committee, Kapilvastu. The agreement comprises understandings, including recommendation to the Home Ministry to provide reparation to the deceased’s family and probe into police oppression. The curfew imposed by Kapilvastu DAO since yesterday continued today as well, said CDO Shrestha.

Meanwhile, deceased Pandey’s body was cremated on the banks of local Suraikhola as per Hindu tradition after post-mortem was conducted.