PALPA, Feb 13: Tension ran high in Gulmi throughout the day on Wednesday after locals vandalized the District Administration Office (DAO) and the office of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) protesting 18 hours of power outage daily.
They even padlocked Chief District Officer inside the DAO till evening.
The demonstrators also shut down the market in Tamghas, the district headquarters. They have demanded that the NEA ensure regular electricity supply in the district.
After padlocking NEA, the demonstrators burned a tire inside DAO and chanted slogans demanding the resignation of NEA chief. A clash ensured after police intervened, leaving more than half-a-dozen police personnel and two locals injured.
The police lobbed five teargas shells and charged batons to bring the situation under control while protestors pelted stones at the police.
The police administration had called the protestors to hold talks but the latter declined to sit for talks asking the police to first apologize for the attack on them. The locals have said that they will continue their protests until NEA ensures them regular electricity supply.
According to CDO Kabindra Nepal, the demonstrators have smashed windows of DAO and NEA office.
Meanwhile, locals complained that the power outage reached 18 hours a day this year though locals had announced Gulmi a load-shedding free zone.
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