A group of around 10 men set ablaze the Wednesday’s issues of The Kathmandu Post and the Kantipur daily at Attariya in Kailali district on Wednesday morning. The newspapers were being ferried to Attariya from Nepalgunj for distribution

in various parts of Sudurpashchim Province.

The arsonists also torched other newspapers, including Annapurna Post and Nagarik dailies.

They seized the newspapers from a Bolero pickup (Bhe 1 Cha 1305) and set them on ire outside a newsagent in Attariya, according to Hridayaram Yadav, an employee of the Kantipur Publications.

“They had come prepared with petrol in water bottles. Before lighting the papers on fire they warned us not to take their photos,” he said, adding that one of the arsonists seized his mobile phone for trying to record the event.Police had made no arrests in connection to the incident as of late Wednesday afternoon.

The papers were allegedly burned over the news reports regarding the decision of the Province Assembly to shift the provincial capital to Godawari from Dhangadhi.

The Post, Kantipur and other national dailies had written about the environmental threats that the decision to shift the capital to Godawari had raised.

Meanwhile, various media organisations, political parties and lawmakers denounced burning of the newspapers.

The central, provincial and district chapters of the Federation of Nepali Journalists issued separate statements and demanded action against the guilty. Sudurpaschim lawmakers also raised concerns over the incident while addressing the Provincial Assembly meeting.