Damak, November 16:

Educational institutions based in Jhapa district were closed today at the call of Nepal Students’

Union and Tarun Dal.

The district chapters of the two Nepali Congress-affiliated organisations called the strike to protest the attack on Constituent Assembly member and NC leader Keshav Kumar Bhudhathoki.

“Students were forced to return home as the schools and colleges were closed,” guardians said. Schools and colleges remained closed in rural and urban areas, including Damak, Birtamod, Dhulabari, Gauradaha, Gaurigunj, Bharadpur, Mechinagar, Dhulabari.

CA member Budhathoki was attacked by cadres of the Sanghiya Limbuwan Rajyaparisad (SLR) near the bridge over the Kankai river on Thursday.

The incident occurred when Budhathoki was returning home after taking part in a programme organised as part of the NC’s national awareness campaign in Gauradaha. The SLR cadres had also set fire to three motorbikes belonging to NC activists.

“We are forced to stage the protest as the local administration has not bothered to conduct a search for the assailants,” NSU district secretary Aindra Bikram Kerung said.

“We plan to gherao the Jhapa District Administration Office for an hour tomorrow.”

The SLR has apologised to the NC for the attack.