KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 13
Transport workers, who obstructed vehicular movement at Balaju by-pass area for almost the entire day today, turned violent later in the evening setting ablaze two police vehicles and burning down a temporary police beat, injuring at least 17 cops, including two who suffered serious head injuries.
Scores of transport workers had gathered in the area to protest the government's recent decision to effect a three-fold hike in fines for violating traffic rules.
Transport workers had blocked the road by parking long-route vehicles on the Ring Road segment between Balaju chowk and Maccha Pokhari area.
Protestors were peaceful for most part of the day, completely blocking the transportation in the area all day long. However, a few police personnel deployed at the scene tried to disburse protesters in the evening.
But the protesters were not ready to back off and started hurling stones and bricks at the police, leading to a violent showdown.
Protesters pushed back outnumbered police personnel and vandalised a police van. As it got darker, they started pelting cops with stones and bricks.
Later, they set ablaze two police vans parked outside the temporary police beat and burnt tyres. Within half an hour, they burnt down the makeshift police station as well.
It was only after a team of police personnel was deployed in the area late in the evening that they were able to disburse the mob.
"Police didn't try to use excessive force as we were only concerned about dispersing the mob using the least amount of force," said Superintendent of Police Sanuram Bhattarai of Metropolitan Rani Pokhari Police Office that looks after security in Kathmandu valley.
However, police were struggling to remove the buses parked on the road until 9:00pm.
A version of this article appears in the print on February 14, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
