(updated) Tension has gripped Chalnakhel on the outskirts of the Kathmandu Valley after locals clashed with police following vandalism at a cooking gas refilling plant. Police said it has lobbed teargas shells after locals pelted stone at the plant of Everest Gas for failing to keep promise of providing cooking gas cylinders today. Local Santosh Chettri said one person has sustained serious injuries in the clash. He accused the plant owner of thrashing them by deploying goons. Kirtipur Police said the details of the incident are awaited.

Update.............. At least eight police personnel, including two Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSP), were injured when a clash erupted at the Everest Gas bottling plant in Chalnakhel, Kirtipur, on Tuesday, after the company failed to distribute cooking gas cylinders to consumers. One of the DSPs lost his loaded pistol in the scuffle. Police said they had not been able to recover the weapon. Tension flared up in the Kirtipur area after locals stormed into the company premises after the owner, Shiva Ghimire, failed to arrive on time for distribution of gas cylinders. Enraged locals then attacked security personnel, who had to fire tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. According to locals, Ghimire had promised to distribute around 1,000 gas cylinders and coupons had already been distributed. Arjun Thapa, a local resident of Kirtipur, said the Everest Gas company had pledged on Sunday that it would distribute cooking gas cylinders on Tuesday. “We waited for hours, but the owner and his employees failed to show up,” said Thapa. The company, however, said that a mob vandalised the bottling plant when it was preparing to send LPG cylinders to its depots. According to Everest Gas, it distributed 8,000 half-filled cylinders through its 281 depots on Sunday and Monday. The company said it was planning to distribute LPG cylinders through 38 depots on Tuesday. SP Bishwo Raj Pokhrel, spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Range, Teku, said it was difficult for the security personnel to take the situation under control as hundreds of people had gathered around the bottling plant to collect cooking gas cylinders. DSP Rewati Dhakal and Tika Bahadur KC were injured in the clash and were rushed to Vayodha Hospital in Balkhu. They were discharged after treatment. Police arrested eight Kirtipur locals for attacking police and vandalising the property of the gas company. Investigation is underway, said SP Pokhrel. According to the Department of Commerce and Supply Management, the Kathmandu Valley has been receiving only 4 percent of total demand of cooking gas. Poor distribution mechanism and obstructions by people living around gas bottling plants are only making the situation worse, adding to current crisis, according to the department.