The man injured in the shooting has been identified as Santosh Budha, 24, a resident of Gothibang VDC-3 in Pyuthan district. He is currently undergoing treatment at a local hospital.[break]
Seven policemen including inspector Krishna Karki were injured in a violent clash following the shooting. Several locals were also injured during the clash, according to our correspondent.
The police had also fired around 60 tear gas shells. The protestors had retaliated against the police by hurling bricks and stones.
The police opened fire after some of the protestors, who were from Pyuthan, Rolpa and Arghakhachi district, tried to storm into the BPC office.
The protestors also set fire about six offices of the BPC and the feeder, according to police. Initial estimates have put the losses at tens of millions of rupees. According to the chief district officer of Pyuthan, Kamal Mani Kafle, details about the loss caused to the feeder have yet to come. "Today, it is already dark, the details of the loss of will be assessed on Tuesday only," said Kafle.
Pyuthan remained tense throughout the day. On Monday, a joint meeting of various eight political parties decided to shut down Pyuthan district protesting power outage.
The BPC has been generating 14 megawatts from Jhimruk Hydropower Project located in Pyuthan district. Of the 14 megawatts, 4 megawatts has been provided for Pyauthan, Rolpa and Arghakhanchi, and the rest has been connected to the national grid.
The people of the three districts, who never experienced load-shedding in the past, were angry after a six-hours daily load-shedding was imposed from December 31.
Related story
Five killed, more than 25 injured in Pyuthan bus mishap (update...
