Eight injured in bulldozer attack in Baitadi

Baitadi, Oct 22 : Eight people were injured, two of them seriously, when the bulldozer driver attacked them with the bucket of the vehicle in course of dispute regarding the construction of road.

Gaura Joshi and Suresh Prasad Joshi have sustained serious injuries in the attack.

The incident happened in Gwallek of Dasharath Chand Municipality-9 when a dispute broke out over the construction of a dust road.

In a fit of rage, the bulldozer driver hit some people with the ‘bucket’ of the bulldozer. A video footage of the attack shows the driver attacking Gaura with the bulldozer bucket.

 Those seriously injured in the incident were taken to the District Hospital Baitadi for treatment. The District Hospital referred them to the Kohalpur Hospital in Banke after they could not be treated there, Chief of the District Police Office Baitadi, Deputy Superintendent Dilli Narayan Pandey, said. 

            Police said eight people in all have sustained injuries when two sides clashed over the construction of road from Sunnakhan to Parsa. One group of people was in favour of allowing construction of the road while the next group opposed it.

            Hansaraj Joshi, a local, said that the party constructing the road forcibly operated the bulldozer on their land even though they were trying to reach a compromise over the issue. According to him, the land on which one side tried to construct the road is a Guthi land (land belonging to a religious trust). 

Joshi said since the plot was a Guthi land, they proposed to first forge a consensus among all the locals before going ahead with the road construction but the side supporting the construction tried to push through. 

            Another local, Durga Datta Joshi, said there was dispute regarding the construction of the road from Sunnakhan to Parsa but the situation took a nasty turn today.

He said the other side forcibly tried to operate bulldozer for the construction of the road on their land and they opposed the move. The clash between the two sides broke out after Gaura Joshi was shoved by the bulldozer bucket.

            However, Keshab Datta Joshi, president of the Road Construction Committee, said that the clash broke out after the side opposing the road construction suddenly started throwing rocks at the bulldozer.

            Chief District Officer of Baitadi, Ananda Poudel said that the dispute would be settled through discussions with both sides.

            Meanwhile, police have arrested Kishor Bohara, the bulldozer driver who shoved a local woman with the bucket of the bulldozer amidst the dispute over construction of a rural road.

A video of this incident appeared in the social site, prompting the police to arrest Bohara, a resident of Dehimandau, Dasharath Chand Municipality-2.

            Police said they have detained three more people in this connection. Police investigation is on in this regard, it is stated.