Rautahat, December 4

Residents of Rautahat, Mudbalawa today picketed the District Administration Office in Gaur in protest against unwarranted house search.

A team of police personnel deployed from Rautahat district police office had carried out a search at Binod Yadav’s house in Mudbalawa at about 3:00 am on Friday. The locals, however, protested saying the search was being carried out without any warrant.

“The police personnel pounded on the door and stormed in like robbers when everyone in the house was fast asleep. The act is intolerable,” said Yadav, the house owner, adding, “They seized cell phones, broke the cupboards before leaving the house an hour later saying they had found nothing.”

Central member of Federal Socialist Forum Nepal and former school head teacher Rameshwor Raya Yadav condemned police high-handedness. “Police personnel cannot search a house without any search warrant. How can they raid a house in the middle of the night when everyone is asleep?” he questioned.

Following the locals’ protest, a discussion was held between the villagers and Chief District Officer Narahari Baral today. CDO Baral said, “The incident was unfortunate and shouldn’t have happened.” Rameshwor informed that the locals had withdrawn the picketing programme after CDO Baral apologised for the incident.