DHANGADHI: In the first hearing of Tikapur incident of August 2015, Kailali District Court has ordered the plaintiff (government) and defendants to bring forth witnesses to court.

After three years since the incident, the first hearing took place on Wednesday under a single bench of District Judge Parshu Ram Bhattarai.

According to Court Officer Indra Bahadur Kathayat, the court has ordered the District Lawyers Office to summon plaintiff’s witnesses and the defendants to come forth with their witnesses.

The next hearing will take place on September 9, 2018.

Eight persons, including a senior superintendent of Nepal Police and a two-year-old child were killed by the protesters waging agitation led by pro-Tharuwan cadres in Kailali’s Tikapur on August 24, 2015.

The erstwhile government had filed cases against 58 persons on charges of murder and robbery. Out of the 58, 32 are still at large while 23 are in District Prison, Kailali. Likewise, elected parliamentarian Resham Chaudhary is in judicial custody in Kathmandu while two minors are serving time at a rehabilitation centre in Pokhara.