Police have detained more than a dozen protestors including Gopal Kirati, the leader of the campaign to stop the CPN-UML’s Mid-Hill Highway-centered campaign from entering Koshi province.
Deputy General Secretary of Kirat Rai Yayokkha Arjun Jamneli Rai told Setopati that the police detained Kirati from Halesi in Khotang on Tuesday.
"The police asked him who planted the bombs in different places," Rai said. "Police have detained more than a dozen people including him a while ago."
Rai said that they were detained from Khotang and Bhojpur.
According to the Kirat Rai Yayokkha, Rajesh Rai, Bijay Rai, Ganjaman Rai, Udin Rai, Bidur Rai, Mina Rai, Dinesh Rai, Panama Rai and others were detained along with Kirati.
DIG Rajeshnath Bastola, chief of Koshi province police, said that former minister Kirati was not arrested but only taken under control.
The Province 1 Renaming Joint Struggle Committee has called a banda targeting the mass gathering at Harkapur of Okhaldhunga that UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and other leaders are scheduled to address on Tuesday.
The protestors have obstructed the Mid-Hill Highway by felling trees at various places. They say that they won’t allow Oli and other UML leaders to enter the province as part of the campaign.
