Police took action against more than 800 people for Holi hooliganism and traffic rule violations in different parts of Kathmandu Valley on Monday.

A senior police official said that Nepal Police had mobilised around 3,000 police personnel and 500 traffic officers in the Valley as part of a special security plan for the Holi festival.

Throughout the day, at least 114 people were detained for disorderly conduct while 711 others were booked for traffic rule violations, Deputy Superintendent of Police Hobindra Bogati, spokesperson for the Kathmandu Metropolitan Police Range, said.

“Among those detained, eight of them were female. The majority of the people were taken into custody for throwing water-filled balloons and smearing colour on passers-by, harassing girls and women, fighting and for disturbing the peace,” Bogati said.
Most of them were handed over to their parents on the same day.
Two people had lost their lives and scores others had sustained injuries in road accidents and brawls in the Valley during last year’s Holi.

For this year, traffic police had set up checkpoints in 78 places to book traffic rule violators and minimise road accidents, Senior Superintendent of Police Bhim Dhakal, chief of the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division, said.

“Besides booking 711 motorists, we also impounded 186 vehicles this Holi.”