KATHMANDU: Tensions flared between the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Police and local residents at Gaushala Chowk following a demolition attempt by KMC authorities.
A team from the KMC Police arrived with a bulldozer to demolish a structure that had encroached onto the footpath at Gaushala Chowk in Kathmandu.
The building, operated by the Marwari Sewa Samiti, sparked a standoff when local residents intervened.
Acting on a court order, the city police arrived at Gaushala to vacate the Gaushala Dharamshala, a building run by the Marwari Sewa Samiti, and to remove the structure obstructing the footpath.
As authorities began the demolition, a scuffle broke out between the police and locals.
The locals expressed their anger, accusing the Kathmandu Metropolitan City of acting arbitrarily in defiance of the court order.
Some residents even threatened to throw stones at the police as they operated the bulldozer.
The Kathmandu District Court had previously ruled that the land on which the Gaushala Dharamshala stands belongs to the Pashupati Area Development Fund, and that the Marwari Sewa Samiti would not retain rights to the property.
The Marwari Sewa Samiti has been running the Dharamshala for 21 years.
Following the court’s decision, the Samiti was ordered to vacate the premises. In response, Kathmandu Metropolitan City deployed a bulldozer to demolish the encroaching structure, despite resistance from local residents and the Sewa Samiti.
The Pashupati Development Fund had transferred management of the Dharamshala to the Kathmandu Metropolitan City, following the decision of the then Minister of Culture, Sudan Kirati, to revoke the property from the Marwari Sewa Samiti.
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