Inspector General of Nepal Police Upendra Kanta Aryal has directed the heads of police in western Tarai districts to reinstate the officers who were recently recalled from the security posts located at Madhes and Tharu-centric areas, citing security reasons.

A police source said that IGP Aryal told the police chiefs of western Tarai districts that the decision to pull out the officers from their beats has sent negative message to the public. He commanded that the recalled officers be repositioned to their earlier stations at the earliest.

District Police Office (DPO) in Banke had evacuated few police posts on Wednesday after disgruntled Madhesi and Tharu protesters started targeting security personnel. On Monday, a group of protesters had set fire to a police post at Tribhuvan Chowk in Nepalgunj.

SP Basanta Pant, chief of Banke DPO,  said only those police posts where with few officers were shifted to nearby stations.

Mid Western Region police chief DIG Keshav Adhikari said the idea behind evacuating police posts was to create a stronger police beat by assembling officers at the same place.