Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bimalendra Nidhi has said the government has declared Govinda Gautam as a martyr. Gautam was killed in an alleged firing by India’s Seema Sashastra Bal (SSB) in Punarbas of Kanchanpur on Thursday.

Along with martyr’s status, the government will provide Rs one million compensation to Gautam’s family and fund the education of his children, said Nidhi while addressing the Legislature-Parliament meeting on Friday.

Minister Nidhi informed the House that innocent Gautam was killed by SSB following a row over the construction of a culvert in Ananda Bazar of Nepali side by locals. He said that the firing by India’s SSB is condemnable.

Indian PM Modi expresses his grief

DPM Nidhi said that Indian PM Narendra Modi has expressed his grief to PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal over the death of a Nepali man in an alleged firing by SSB in Nepal-India border in Kanchanpur.

Nidhi said Indian PM Modi’s security advisor Ajit Doval made a telephone call to convey Modi’s message.

PM Modi has expressed his sadness over the death and sympathy to the bereaved family.