A general strike called by the Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha (SLMM) in protest of the Saptari incident affected life in various Tarai districts for the second consecutive day on Wednesday. 

Market places and educational institutions remained closed, while transportation came to a halt in Saptari, Morang, Siraha, Dhanusha, Rautahat, Bara, Parsa, Nawalparasi, Banke, among other districts, due to the banda. 

The banda enforcers took to the streets since early morning in Rajbiraj, the district headquarters of Saptari. 

The SLMM and the local administration held a meeting on Wednesday about the Maleth clash. According to Acting Chief District Officer Prem Prasad Upadhyay, the Morcha representatives demanded that the government declare the deceased martyrs, provide compensation to the victims’ families and bear treatment expenses of those injured in the incident. The two sides have agreed to hold a meeting soon after the arrival of new CDO and receive the bodies, added Upadhyay.

In Morang, the protesters took out a baton rally in Biratnagar, while staging demonstrations at Rangeli, Diyaniya, Katahari, among other places. Addressing a corner meet at Budhahatchowk, the SLMM leaders denounced the killings in Saptari. 

In Janakpur, the SLMM supporters took out a baton rally that later converged into a corner meet at Janakchowk. Supporters of the Baburam Bhattarai-led Naya Shakti Nepal also attended the rally. 

In Nawalparasi, the protesters vandalised two trucks for defying the banda. Meanwhile, the SLMM activists smeared soot on two UML leaders in Kalaiya, Bara. They blackened the face of UML party office secretary Shankar Bhattarai and Kalaiya municipal committee member Ram Ekbal Patel at Kalaiya Chowk. 

(With inputs from our local correspondents)