One killed, several injured in violent protests in Nepal

At least one person was killed and several others were injured on Monday as different parts of Nepal witnessed protests and clashes between security forces and those demanding modification of the six-province constitutional model.

Nepal's political parties on late Saturday night agreed to federate the country into six provinces but different political parties from the southern plains, indigenous communities and women demanding undivided and autonomous regions and provinces have been protesting in different parts of the Himalayan nation since Sunday.

One person was fatally shot by police while three others were injured during a protest in Surkhet district on Monday, police said.

Authorities enforced a curfew at Surkhet after violent protests in the district against the government decision to include the divided mid-western region in the Far West region while delineating the country afresh.

Nepal presently has five development regions, 14 zones and 75 districts. In the process of fresh demarcation, some regions, zones and districts have been either merged with or torn away from the original zones and districts.

In Surkhet bazaar, already shut after a pre-announced bandh, police fired several rounds in the air after a crowd turned violent and began pelting stones at the houses of political leaders.

After failing to disperse the crowd, police fired at the mob, injuring at least four people. The injured were rushed to a Nepalgunj-based hospital for treatment.

Similarly, tension was running high in Jumla district after protestors, demanding an undivided Karnali state, torched a police van on Monday afternoon.

Karnali, one of the most backward regions of Nepal with low human development indicators, has been merged in the proposed state number six in Far Western region.

Protests began early Monday morning when local leaders, social activists and youths denounced the decision to merge Karnali zone in the Far Western region while federating the country.

They demanded a single state that included all districts of Karnali region.

Protestors vandalised the Jumla district administration office and torched a police van. They blamed the local administration for mobilising the Nepalese army in the district.

The army patrolled the market area even as a meeting of the district security committee was underway to decide the next course of action after violent protests in the district.