Tikapur, the flashpoint of Tharuhat protest against the proposed federal setup, remained tense on Tuesday as well. 

Some unidentified people took to the street and vandalised shops and houses, defying the curfew enforced by the local administration. Security personnel fired eight rounds of warning shots to chase away the vandals. Suman Dhital of Tikapur-based Area Administration Office said no arrests were made as the vandals fled before police could approach them. 

According to some locals, the unidentified men torched and vandalised the houses belong to lawmaker Janak Chaudhary, leader of Tharuhat Struggle Committee Resham Chaudhary, leader of Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Loktantrik Pradeep Chaudhary, the office building of Phoolbari FM, Phoolbari Resort and some shops belonging to Tharu people. 

Meanwhile, the local administration said that police have arrested four suspects in connection to Monday’s riot. Their identities have been withheld for security reasons.

The residents of Tikapur and adjoining areas have been terrorised after Monday’s incident in which seven security personnel and two-year-old child were killed in a 

riot. They are worried that there could be a racial 

violence between Tharus and the people from the Hill community.

The government has mobilised a large number of security personnel, including the Nepal Army soldiers, in Tikapur and nearby areas. 

The Tharuhat Struggle Committee has enforced banda in various places of western Tarai, including Kailali, Kanchanpur, Banke, Bardiya, Dang, Kapilvastu and Rupandehi, for the past two weeks, demanding a separate Tharuhat state.

Curfew in Dhangadhi

DHANGADHI: The local administration clamped curfew from 11am to 7pm in Dhangadhi Municipality on Tuesday. A huge number of security personnel, including Nepal Army soldiers, were deployed to patrol the town. Despite the curfew, the local administration said, Tharuhat activists vandalised and torched houses and shops in Dhansipur and Joshipur. 

Harke Bohara, a Joshipur local, said some families in the settlement have left 

their homes fearing for their safety. (PR)