Banke District Administration Office today issued an indefinite prohibitory order in Kohalpur area as the situation took an ugly turn this afternoon after a schoolgirl was critically injured in an accident.

Seventh-grader Prakriti Chand of Tribhuvan Secondary School was critically injured when a truck hit her in front of her school in Kohalpur Municipality this morning. As the demonstration over the incident took a violent turn, the DAO issued an indefinite prohibitory order, banning people from staging protests. Police can open fire on people if they defy the order. Locals, however, can move around with the permission of the authorities concerned.

Banke Acting Chief District Officer Krishna Chandra Upadhyay said the prohibitory order would be effective on the Nepalgunj-Kohalpur road passing through Pipari Chowk and Naubasta Chowk in the north, Rohini khola in the east and Kiran khola to the west.

Irate students and locals set the truck involved in the accident on fire. They vandalized hundreds of vehicles on Nepalgunj-Kohalpur road. Police had to resort to baton charge to bring the situation under control. As many as 24 persons, including Deputy Superintendent of Police Hem Bahadur Shahi and eight other cops, were injured in the incident.

All the injured are being treated in Nepalgunj Medical College. The condition of three is said to be critical.

Police had to fire two dozen tear gas shells and some rubber bullets to contain the situation. The tension that started off from Tribhuvan Secondary School reached Kohalpur bazaar chowk, where locals, parents, and students pelted police with stones and brickbats. Kohalpur bazaar was shut due to the agitation and reinforcements were deployed from Nepalgunj to bring the situation under control.

Nepal Police and Armed Police Force have brought the situation in Kohalpur under control. “DAO has issued a prohibitory order to stop further damage,” said Acting CDO Upadhyay.

The truck, en route to Kohalpur from Nepalgunj, hit Prakriti while she was crossing the road to enter her school. Both her legs have received serious injuries. After she could not be treated in Nepalgunj Medical College, Prakriti was airlifted in a Nepali Army chopper to Lalitpur’s B&B Hospital, police said.