The government on Thursday transferred the Chief District Officer (CDO) and district police chief of Kanchanpur district after tensions escalated in Bhimdutta Municipality, the headquarters of Kanchanpur district, due to the protests over the rape and murder of a teenage girl.

CDO Kumar BahadurKhadka and Superintendent of Police (SP) Dilli Raj Bistahave been transferred, Home Ministry sources said.

The Home Ministry has formed a five-member probe committee headed by Joint Secretary Hari Prasad Mainali to look into the incident.

According to a statement issued by the Home Ministry, the committee will have Nepal Police DIG, officials from Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law, and representatives of Province 7 as members.

Earlier, the lawmakers from Far-West region had met Home Minister Ram BahadurThapa and urged him to take the matter seriously and take necessary steps to resolve the problem.

Locals intensified the protests after the police arrested and made public a mentally ill person as the main accused in the rape-murder case. They accused the police administration of presenting the fake suspect to protect the perpetrator.

Earlier in the day today, four people were injured after police opened fire on protesters to contain the situation.

Shops have remained shuttered and the vehicles have stayed off the road due to daily protest in Bhimdutta.

The District Administration Office (DAO), Kanchanpur, clamped curfew from 5 pm Thursday to 5am Friday in Bhimdutta bazaar area after the demonstrations turned violent.

The body of Nirmala, 13,  was found in a sugarcane field in Bhimdutta Municipality-18 on July 27, a day after she was reported missing. Autopsy report showed that the teenager had been raped and strangulated to death.