Lekhnath, June 29:

Farmers of Lekhnath municipality seized diesel from NOC’s Gagangaunda depot today and distributed it among themselves.

The farmers seized a tanker belonging to petroleum entrepreneur Karna Bahadur Bhujel, took it to the depot and filled it with 12,000 litres of diesel. They also took the owner of Paschimanchal Oil Stores Baburam Jamarkattel to the depot. Jamarkattel is also the president of Lekhnath Chambers of Commerce and Industries.

“A meeting of LCCI was being held in the afternoon. Suddenly a group of 40-50 persons entered the venue and forced us into a vehicle,” LCCI president Jamarkattel told The Himalayan Times.

The farmers said they were compelled to behave in such a way finding no other alternative at a time when their paddy plantation was being disrupted. “We did so as the paddy saplings were dying,” Nabin Jamarkattel, a farmer, said.