At least 17 people were injured in a clash between police and the people protesting against the Local Level Restructuring Commission (LLRC) report in Dhikure Bazaar, Nuwakot, on Wednesday. 

According to witnesses, three persons sustained injuries from rubber bullet fired by police and a fourth one fractured a leg in the skirmish. Chief District Officer Bishnu Prasad Pokharel said security personnel had to fire 47 rounds of rubber bullets and 22 tear gas canisters to take the situation under control. 

The clash erupted when some protesters hurled stones at a mass assembly organised by the Nepali Congress. The NC central member and former minister Ram Sharan Mahat was due to address the assembly. 

The NC function resumed after peace was restored and Mahat addressed the party supporters.

The NC leader urged the people protesting against the LLRC report to press their demand through a peaceful protest. 

The people from Likhu region in the district have been protesting after the LLRC report did not incorporate their demand of granting Likhu a village council status. 

Relay hunger strike in Kalaiya

BARA: A relay hunger strike is underway for the past one week in Kalaiya, Bara, to press for a sub-metropolis status for Kalaiya while reconfiguring the local administrative units. Kalaiya is currently a municipality. Binod Barai, vice-chairman of the Bara Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said their protest will continue until the LLRC has revised its decision. In its report, the LLRC has proposed incorporating only Kalaiya-21 in Simara-Jitpur Sub-metropolis. The Kalaiya residents, however, have demanded that Kalaiya should remain undivided and granted sub-metropolis status. 

The locals of Piparpati Pacharauta in the district are also protesting, demanding that the VDC should remain intact and given a village council status. The LLRC has proposed seven village councils, five municipalities and one sub metropolis in Bara.