Kailali and Kanchanpur districts of Far-West remained shut on Friday due to the protest against the death of a Nepali man in alleged firing by India’s Seema Sashastra Bal (SSB) at Punarbas Municipality-8, Kanchanpur on Thursday.

Gobinda Gautam of Punarbas Municipality-8, who sustained bullet in a firing by SSB, was declared dead at CP Hospital, Dhangadi.

Normal life in the bordering districts was affected as vehicles stayed off the road and markets remained closed after tension escalated owing to the demonstrations.

Protesters have vandalised a barricade in Kailali customs office at Nepal-India border. Around five hundred protesters, mostly the cadres of   CPN (Maoist Centre) and CPN-Maoist led by Netra Bikram Chand, have been staging demonstration at the border area.

Deke Bazaar area became tense after police used force to stop the protesters from marching across Mohana River. Demonstrators have been protesting from early morning at IBRD of Punarbas, Tribhuvanbasti, Belauri, and Khajuriya, among other bordering areas. The protesters have also torched some shops owned by Indian businessmen.

Locals complained that the security personnel have not initiated actions to stop the protesters. Most of the Indian businessmen based at Punarbas and Tribhuvanbasti have left their shops. 

 A 32-year-old man from Ananda Bazaar of Punarbas Municipality-8 in Kanchanpur district died when India’s Seema Sashastra Bal (SSB) allegedly opened fire on locals on Nepal-India border on Thursday.

Tension was running high along the border since Thursday morning over the construction of a culvert on the Nepali side by locals. A row over culvert construction had continued since long, as the area where the structure was being built is said to be disputed with the Indian side claiming it not to be on Nepali territory.

Clashes that erupted earlier on Thursday turned nasty and violent later. Six other locals have been injured, one seriously, in the clash.

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