RAJBIRAj: Defying curfew orders, demonstrators carried the body of Akhilendra Yadav, who was shot dead by the police Friday , across the major thoroughfares in Rajbiraj of Saptari Saturday . His body was later cremated in Bishnupura.

The local administration had clamped curfew from 7 am to 6 pm in Rajbiraj to prevent any untoward incident after locals began protesting against police.

In the wake of Yadav’s death, a struggle committee comprising representatives of 22 political parties, civil society, employees’ organisation, Sagarmatha Transport Organisation, has demanded that the deceased be declared a martyr.

They have also demanded action against the policeman, suspension and action against CDO and SP, compensation and treatment for those injured in the incident, resignation of the Home Minister and removal of Armed Police Force barracks from Saptari district.

At the call of the struggle committee, Rajbiraj bazaar remained shut while no vehicles plied on the roads. “We have called for an indefinite strike. Only emergency services and media houses will be allowed to operate,” said Dinesh Kumar Yadav, coordinator of the struggle committee.

The police had arrested Yadav from Bishnupur Chowk of Itahari, Saptari, in possession of chemical fertilisers being imported from India. Yadav had died on the spot after the police opened fire in an ensuing scuffle between the two sides. Six persons, including ASI Rabindra Yadav, were injured in the incident. The injured are undergoing treatment in Dharan.