A week ago an armed unit of the District Forest Office (DFO) had demolished, set on fire, and destroyed 30 houses at Bichpani of Bharaul VDC-3 in Sunsari alleging that the squatters had encroached upon forest land.
The victims of the incident, refuting that the land was within the forest, has demanded a probe by the concerned body and demanded that the DFO make compensation. The victims say that in accordance with the consent of the local body they had been using this land for staging a weekly Sangam market.
According to the local Market Management Committee (MMC), the VDC had been conducting the market every Friday for the past three years, with the consent received from the District Administration through the recommendation of the District Development Committee (DDC).
The ravage by the armed team of DFO had destroyed 25 shops, and caused losses of more than Rs. 2,00,000. Tara Bahadur Khadka, one of the shopkeepers, who had been eking out a living from a stall at the market fair, complained that the armed team had attacked them like terrorists, without any prior intimation, and demanded that they should be paid compensation for their destroyed goods.
The majority of the victims, managing small grocery shops at the incident site were loanees of the Agriculture Development Bank (ADB) of Barahachetra having pledged their stock as collateral. Talking to The Kathmandu Post correspondent, Khadga said that the victims were ready to stage a strong protest if their demands for compensation are not met with. BHARAUL, Sunsari, June 17 : A week ago an armed unit of the District Forest Office (DFO) had demolished, set on fire, and destroyed 30 houses at Bichpani of Bharaul VDC-3 in Sunsari alleging that the squatters had encroached upon forest land.
The victims of the incident, refuting that the land was within the forest, has demanded a probe by the concerned body and demanded that the DFO make compensation. The victims say that in accordance with the consent of the local body they had been using this land for staging a weekly Sangam market.
According to the local Market Management Committee (MMC), the VDC had been conducting the market every Friday for the past three years, with the consent received from the District Administration through the recommendation of the District Development Committee (DDC).
The ravage by the armed team of DFO had destroyed 25 shops, and caused losses of more than Rs. 2,00,000. Tara Bahadur Khadka, one of the shopkeepers, who had been eking out a living from a stall at the market fair, complained that the armed team had attacked them like terrorists, without any prior intimation, and demanded that they should be paid compensation for their destroyed goods.
The majority of the victims, managing small grocery shops at the incident site were loanees of the Agriculture Development Bank (ADB) of Barahachetra having pledged their stock as collateral. Talking to The Kathmandu Post correspondent, Khadga said that the victims were ready to stage a strong protest if their demands for compensation are not met with.
The victims of the incident, refuting that the land was within the forest, has demanded a probe by the concerned body and demanded that the DFO make compensation. The victims say that in accordance with the consent of the local body they had been using this land for staging a weekly Sangam market.
According to the local Market Management Committee (MMC), the VDC had been conducting the market every Friday for the past three years, with the consent received from the District Administration through the recommendation of the District Development Committee (DDC).
The ravage by the armed team of DFO had destroyed 25 shops, and caused losses of more than Rs. 2,00,000. Tara Bahadur Khadka, one of the shopkeepers, who had been eking out a living from a stall at the market fair, complained that the armed team had attacked them like terrorists, without any prior intimation, and demanded that they should be paid compensation for their destroyed goods.
The majority of the victims, managing small grocery shops at the incident site were loanees of the Agriculture Development Bank (ADB) of Barahachetra having pledged their stock as collateral. Talking to The Kathmandu Post correspondent, Khadga said that the victims were ready to stage a strong protest if their demands for compensation are not met with. BHARAUL, Sunsari, June 17 : A week ago an armed unit of the District Forest Office (DFO) had demolished, set on fire, and destroyed 30 houses at Bichpani of Bharaul VDC-3 in Sunsari alleging that the squatters had encroached upon forest land.
The victims of the incident, refuting that the land was within the forest, has demanded a probe by the concerned body and demanded that the DFO make compensation. The victims say that in accordance with the consent of the local body they had been using this land for staging a weekly Sangam market.
According to the local Market Management Committee (MMC), the VDC had been conducting the market every Friday for the past three years, with the consent received from the District Administration through the recommendation of the District Development Committee (DDC).
The ravage by the armed team of DFO had destroyed 25 shops, and caused losses of more than Rs. 2,00,000. Tara Bahadur Khadka, one of the shopkeepers, who had been eking out a living from a stall at the market fair, complained that the armed team had attacked them like terrorists, without any prior intimation, and demanded that they should be paid compensation for their destroyed goods.
The majority of the victims, managing small grocery shops at the incident site were loanees of the Agriculture Development Bank (ADB) of Barahachetra having pledged their stock as collateral. Talking to The Kathmandu Post correspondent, Khadga said that the victims were ready to stage a strong protest if their demands for compensation are not met with.
