Govinda Gautam of Punarbash Municipality-8 in Kanchanpur district, who had died on March 9 after being shot by the Indian Seema SurakshaBal (SSB) at Aananda Bazar in the district, was cremated with state honours in the Dodha River bank on Sunday.

His 72-year-old father Khem Lal Gautam performed the final rites. Nepal Police offered an 11- gun salute to Gautam who was declared a martyr by the government on March 10.

Thousands of locals from Kailali and Kanchanpur districts swarmed in the funeral procession that commenced from the Seti Hospital in Dhangadi reached the river bank after passing through Doke Bazar, Chauraha and Trinagar Bhansar.

Gautam was killed in shooting by the SSB force, following a dispute that surfaced after the Indian side demolished a culvert constructed by the Nepali side at Ananda Bazar near the Nepal-India border. RSS