Eight people, including two security personnel, were injured when a clash ensued between the demonstrators and the security forces at Traffic Chowk in Bhimdutta municipality of Kanchanpur district Thursday.
The injured ones have been identified as Arjun Bhandari, Tej Bhatta, Krita Paneru, Manoj Buda, Saroj Khadka and Santosh Kathariya while the injured security persons are Head constable Harka Bahadur Paal and constable Mahesh Bhatta.
Among the demonstrators, 17-year-old Bhandari of Bhimdutta Municipality-17 has sustained bullet injuries while five others have been hit with bullet shrapnel, according to the Mahakali Zonal Hospital.
Police had opened fire to contain the mob demonstrating in various places and the demonstrations went berserk.
Demonstrations continued Thursday in major marketplaces in the municipality including Bhimduttanagar Bazaar, Bhansi, Suda, Lalpur, Sisaiya, Champapur among others demanding the identification and necessary action against the rape and subsequent murder of a minor.
Demanding the arrest of the murderer of 13-year-old Nirmala Panta of Kholti in Bhimduttanagar Muncipaluty-2 in the district, demonstrators had been burning tyres and chanting slogans in front of various thoroughfares and local authorities' offices.
Panta was found murdered in a sugarcane farm on July 26. She was killed after being raped.Police on last Sunday had made public Dilip Singh Bista, 41, of Bhimdutta Municiplaity-19 as an accused of Panta's murder, stoking dissatisfaction from the public.
Public have been staging protest against the arrest of Bista, who is mentally challenged, claiming that he could not be the culprit.
Deputy Superintendent of Police at the District Police Office, Kanchanpur Gyan Bahadur Seti has taken the stock of the injured ones in the clash.
Meanwhile, a team led by Superintendent of Police Bikram Chand has been formed and mandated to look into the murder case of Panta.
