Birgunj, January 24

Police in Parsa today took seven traders into custody for staging demonstration seeking the release of trucks loaded with the consignments of peas, while three journalists were injured.

The traders were arrested when police intervened with the demonstration and a road obstructed by traders. Three journalists: Janata TV Parsa correspondent Shyam Kushawaha, Prime TV correspondent Araban Sah, and journalist Dipak Chaurasiya of the local NP daily were injured when police baton charged the demonstration they were covering.

“We were covering the demonstration in our camera when police accosted us and started hitting with their batons asking why we were making video of the demonstration,” said journalist Kushawaha, who received injuries from police baton. Another journalist Sah’s camera suffered minor damage in the incident.

Meanwhile, vehicular movement was obstructed for around three hours due to demonstration at the Tilawe bridge on the Birgunj-Pokhariya road section from 11:00am.

On Wednesday, police from the Ward Police Office of Shreepur had impounded seven trucks loaded with 25 tonnes of peas, along with their drivers and helpers, from Tilawe bridge at 8:30pm.

The consignments are said to have been purchased by Sandeep suppliers of Bindabasani Rural Municipality, Parsa 4 from Sarina Enterprises of Birgunj, Ramgadhawa. Police, however, claimed that they impounded the consignments as they were meant to be smuggled to India.

“The consignments were meant to be smuggled to India via Tilawe bridge and Amarpatti entry point, that’s why we had to impound the trucks,” said DSP Anantaram Sharma of the District Police Office of Parsa.