Itahari, August 25:

Protesting the “beating and handover” of six armed Maoists by locals of Devighat of Mahendranagar-4 of Sunsari district, Maoists closed the Chakraghatti bazaar of Mahendranagar today. They halted traffic in Mahendranagar, Jhumka-Chatara and Chatara-Dharan roads. Attempts have been made to solve the problem by holding talks with the Maoists, police said.

The Locals had taken under control the six armed Maoists, who had entered the village from Dharan in a Maruti van and made “attempts” to abduct and attack locals at 8 pm last night. The locals clashed with the Maoists as the latter allegedly tried to abduct two civilians, Peshal Acharya and Santosh Dhakal, the police said. Of the six Maoists, the locals took under control three Maoists — Dinesh Rai, Dik Bahadur Tamang and Govinda Dhami — along with one knife and two swords and handed them over to the police with the van.