Biratnagar, February 13:

The eastern region-based petroleum product suppliers are set to halt the supply of petroleum products from tomorrow in protest against the arrest of a tanker driver. Police arrested Chandra Chaudhary after his vehicle allegedly ran over a man and killed him.

“Police arrested Chaudhari, the driver of a tanker (Na 2 Kha 7449) on the charge of killing a person at Inarwa in Saptari district on January 25. However, he was arrested without any evidence,” the suppliers said. The mishap occurred when police were escorting around 125 vehicles stranded due to the Terai unrest. However, no one is able to say which among the 125 vehicles killed the man.

Meanwhile, in a statement, the Eastern Regional Petroleum Suppliers’ Association, Biratnagar, threatened to halt supply of petroleum products from the eastern regional office of Nepal Oil Corporation. According to the statement, the supply would be halted for three hours tomorrow, four hours on February 15, and for an indefinite period from February 16.

Chairman of the Association Guna Raj Niraula said: “The driver was arrested without any evidence.”