Security forces are facing allegations of using excessive force after opening fire to disperse a communal clash in Sunsari’s Dewanganj Rural Municipality on Sunday night. The firing killed one person and injured nine others, most of whom suffered gunshot wounds above the waist.

Om Prakash Mehta, 30, a farmer from ward 4 of Dewanganj, received a gunshot in the abdomen and died while being rushed to a hospital. The eldest son in his family, Mehta had married in February.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Chandra Bahadur Khadka of Sunsari District Police Office, 13 security personnel, including eight from Nepal Police and five from Armed Police Force (APF), were also injured.

The violence broke out at around 10 pm in Kaptanganj, ward 3 of Dewanganj, after participants in the annual Bolbam pilgrimage passed through the market playing loud music. Members of another community objected to the volume, leading to a verbal altercation that quickly escalated.

“When a police team from the Kaptanganj Police Post arrived to mediate the dispute, more people gathered at the scene,” Khadka told Kantipur. “Some in the crowd were carrying firewood, stones, bamboo poles, sticks and spears.”

Eight Nepal Police personnel, including Inspector Rakesh Rai of the Dewanganj Area Police Office, were injured during the clash.

Questions have also been raised over a power outage that occurred shortly before APF personnel reached the area. The home ministry’s five-member investigation committee, led by joint secretary Bhupendra Thapa, includes a representative of the Nepal Electricity Authority to examine the disruption.

An eyewitness, Jugesh Das, alleged that security personnel opened fire indiscriminately after the area went dark.

“Initially, it was just an argument,” Das said. “Then gunshots rang out continuously and people started running.”

Under the Local Administration Act, 1971, and the Local Administration Regulations, security personnel are required to use the minimum force necessary to restore order. Firearms may be used only as a last resort after other crowd-control measures have failed and adequate warning has been given.

Police said they were forced to open fire after tear gas, baton charges and warning shots failed to disperse the crowd.

Khadka confirmed that most of those injured sustained bullet wounds above the knee or waist. Among those receiving treatment at Neuro Hospital and Nobel Hospital in Biratnagar, Jayaprakash Mehta was shot in the abdomen; Mithilesh Yadav and Mithilesh Mehta in the left flank; Amlesh Mehta in the left shoulder; Amit Kumar Yadav in the left arm and flank; Rabindra Mehta in the left thigh; another Amit Kumar Yadav in the waist; Sunil Kumar Mehta in the left knee; and another Sunil Kumar Mehta in the left elbow. Police said Jayaprakash Mehta and Rabindra Mehta remain in critical condition.

National Human Rights Commission member Mohna Ansari criticised the security response, saying it reflected a “punitive mindset” rather than an effort to de-escalate the situation.

“The focus was not on minimising harm, and the same pattern was repeated in Sunsari,” Ansari said. “A local resident told me police opened fire almost immediately after arriving instead of exhausting efforts to defuse the situation.”

Security experts also questioned the command structure during the operation.

At the time of the incident, several key security positions in the district and province were vacant or being handled by acting officers. Sunsari police chief, Superintendent Keshav Kumar Thebe, was on three days’ leave; in his absence, Khadka was serving as acting chief. The commander of the Sunsari APF Battalion, Superintendent Shyam Karki, had been recalled to Kathmandu two weeks earlier over ineffective anti-smuggling operations, while Koshi province police chief, Deputy Inspector General Binod Ghimire, was also on leave.

The operation at the scene was led by Deputy Superintendent Subas Hamal of the Itahari Area Police Office, assisted by Superintendents Narayan Chimariya and Suman Timsina from the Koshi Province Police Office.

Former Nepal Police Deputy Inspector General Uttam Kumar Karki said reliance on acting commanders can delay critical decisions and weaken coordination during emergencies.

“A mature command structure was essential in a sensitive border area where tensions periodically flare,” Karki said. “There was a clear failure of command.”

The home ministry on Monday recalled Sunsari chief District Officer Basudev Ghimire and transferred senior security officials following the incident. Ishwari Prasad Aryal has replaced Ghimire as chief district officer, while Deputy Inspector General Shekhar Khanal has been assigned to lead the Koshi Province Police. Superintendent of Police Pushpa Raj Malla has been posted as Sunsari police chief, and APF Deputy Superintendent of Police Madan Nath has replaced Deputy Superintendent of Police Nanda Kishor Mahato in Kaptanganj.

Tension remained high across Dewanganj on Monday. The District Administration Office imposed an indefinite curfew in parts of Dewanganj and Harinagar rural municipalities, while Nepal Police, the APF and the Nepali Army were deployed to prevent further violence. The army began armoured vehicle patrols from 1pm.

Despite the curfew, demonstrations were reported in Dewanganj as well as Inaruwa, Laukahi, Janakpur, Biratnagar and Rajbiraj. Three motorcycles, several shops and other properties were vandalised or set on fire in Dewanganj.

Fifteen hours after the violence, local authorities convened an all-party meeting attended by representatives of both communities, who agreed to exercise restraint. Outgoing chief district officer Basudev Ghimire urged residents not to be influenced by rumours and to help maintain communal harmony.

Sunsari-based human rights activist Ramesh Bhattarai and Rastriya Swatantra Party lawmaker Lal Bikram Thapa of Sunsari constituency 2 called for an independent investigation into the use of force, the power outage before the shooting and the apparent breakdown in administrative coordination.