At least five people were injured and over 100 others detained as the government today cracked down on agitators trying to enforce general strike for the second day today to protest plans to restructure Nepal as a federal state with six provinces in the new Constitution.
CPN-Maoist-led alliance, Madhesi parties and ethnic groups called for the strike to protest the restructuring plans made by the major political parties, which they say discriminates against historically marginalised communities.
At least five people were injured as the protesters clashed with security personnel in Khalanga, the district headquarters of Jumla, police said.
The two-day general strike called by the disgruntled political parties for expressing their dissatisfaction over the issue of state delineation had affected normal life across the country.
Schools, colleges and major markets remained closed and vehicular movement came to a halt during the shut down.
However, in Kathmandu, the people defied the strike today and many vehicles plied on the roads with half of the markets remained open.
The agitators vandalised vehicles and tried to set on fire two vehicles for defying the strike in Kathmandu, said Senior Superintendent of Police Narayan Singh of the Kathmandu Metropolitan Police office.
The police rounded up 115 agitators today on the charges of vandalism while 125 people were detained yesterday.
In Surkhet, a western Nepal district, three agitators were killed during police firing after the situation became violent last week.
The government today announced Rs 1 million compensation each to those killed in the police firing.
Various ethnic groups have been staging demonstrations in Western Nepal for the past one week to show protest against the six-province model of federalism as proposed by the four major patties, paving way for writing the new Constitution.
The four major parties - Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, Unified CPN-Maoist and Madhesi Peoples Rights Forum - representing more than 90 per cent seats of the Constituent Assembly, had reached the landmark agreement on June 8 in the wake of the April 25 devastating earthquake.
However, the top leaders of the major parties are yet to formally put their signatures on the deal. Once the deal is signed, the Constitutional Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee will endorse the deal reached among the parties.
