The road victims of the Balaju, Bypass picketed the Kathmandu Metropolitan City on Sunday. Locals of Kalimati had also closed their shops from 10 am to 12 noon on Sunday demanding the release of eight local protestors arrested from the bypass. Though the police insisted on opening the shop, the locals did not show up.

Among the arrested from the bypass on Wednesday are Min Bahadur Shahi, Maheshwar Manandhar, Sanjay Tamang, Dipen Shrestha, Bhimdev Shrestha and Ruchit Shrestha. After their arrest, Suman Saimi, chairman of the Valley Road Expansion Victims' Struggle Committee, and Birochan Shrestha reached Balaju Metropolitan Police Circle.

One of the victims, 55-year-old Rama Shrestha says that "Police came into the yard of our house and ordered to move the goods immediately. Rama showed the land documents and the house map through the window. However, the police did not bother to look at the red-stamped documents.

"Two dozers smashed the front of the house right in front of our eyes," said Rama, recalling the black days of five years ago. Kathmandu Metropolitan City is going to build an information centre at the place where Rama's house is. Police have arrested eight people, including his son Ruchit, for protesting five days ago.

Rama does not have the legal papers of the land. Of them, 39 houses were demolished and only four of them had property papers. The rest have only documents proving that they own the land.