Bandh enforcers vandalize six vehicles in Chitwan

Bandh enforcers vandalized six vehicles for defying bandh in Chitwan. The bandh enforcers vandalized three buses, two trucks and a car in various places of Bharatpur Metropolitan City. A car (Province 3-0-01 Ka 0312), three buses (Na 8 Kha 4259, Na 5 Kha 1431 and Province 2-0-3-001 Kha 0098) and two trucks (Na 5 Kha 2263 and Na 4 Kha 8325) were vandalized this morning. Chitwan police have arrested five persons for their alleged involvement in vandalizing the vehicles, DSP Narahari Adhikari, spokesperson at the District Police Office, Chitwan said. The suspects have been identified as Amit Ghising of Bharatpur-23, Rajanbabu Singh of Bharatpur-9, Suraj Sharma and Sudio Paudel of Bharatpur-7 and Ganesh Shrestha of Bharatpur-2. However, there is no impact of Bandh in Bharatpur. The Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal called the bandh against the government for endorsing the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and not implementing the three-point agreement signed with the party.  

3 Arkansas officers suspended after video captures beating

Federal authorities said Monday they have started a civil rights investigation following the suspension of three Arkansas law enforcement officers after a video posted on social media showed two of them beating a man while a third officer held him on the ground, Associated Press reported.

The officers were responding to a report of a man making threats outside a convenience store Sunday in the small town of Mulberry, about 140 miles (220 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock, near the border with Oklahoma, authorities said.

Arkansas State Police said the agency would investigate the use of force. State police identified the suspect as Randal Worcester, 27, of Goose Creek, South Carolina.

However, the attorney for the two deputies says Worcester attacked one of the deputies, giving him a concussion.

The video shows one officer punching the suspect with a clenched fist, while another can be seen hitting the man with his knee. The third officer holds him against the pavement.

In video recorded from a car nearby, someone yells at officers to stop hitting the man in the head. Two of the officers appear to look up and say something back to the person who yelled. The officers’ comments could not be heard clearly on the video.

“The fight was escalating with those officers, and you hear that woman on that video yelling and whoever that is, I think she could have saved his life,” said Carrie Jernigan, an attorney representing Worcester.

He was taken to a hospital, then released and booked into the Crawford County jail in Van Buren on multiple charges, including second-degree battery, resisting arrest and making terroristic threats, state police said.

Worcester was released Monday on $15,000 bond. When asked how he was feeling, he said “all right.” An attorney who escorted him from jail declined to comment on his behalf. Worcester was pushing a bicycle as he left the jail.

Worcester’s father declined to comment when contacted Monday by The Associated Press. He referred a reporter to a law firm representing the family. That firm said it was still trying to gather information and did not immediately have a comment on the video, according to Associated Press.

Two Crawford County sheriff’s deputies and one Mulberry police officer were suspended, city and county authorities said.

Worcester is white, according to jail booking information, and the three officers involved also appear to be white.

A Justice Department spokesperson said Monday that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Arkansas, the FBI’s Little Rock Field Office and the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division opened a civil rights investigation into the incident.

“The FBI and the Arkansas State Police will collect all available evidence and will ensure that the investigation is conducted in a fair, thorough, and impartial manner,” the Justice Department said in a statement. “The federal investigation is separate and independent from the ongoing state investigation.”

Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante said before Worcester was arrested, an officer asked if he had any weapons on him, and he handed one over to the officer. Damante didn’t specify what type of weapon.

“They were about to take him into custody because of part of their investigation on the scene — that’s when he became violent,” Damante said.

The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office identified the three officers as Crawford County deputies Zack King and Levi White and Mulberry police officer Thell Riddle.

“I hold all my employees accountable for their actions and will take appropriate measures in this matter,” Damante said, Associated Press reported.

In a statement released Sunday evening, Mulberry Police Chief Shannon Gregory said the community and the department take the matter “very seriously.”

KMC Mayor Shah directs private companies to manage garbage within a week

Mayor of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), Balendra Shah, has directed the private companies involved in garbage management of KMC to the final management of all the uncollected waste within a week.

Out of 32 wards of KMC, garbage is being managed with the collaboration of private companies in all wards except nine wards. Mayor Shah asked the private companies to collect the piled-up waste and transport it to Bancharedanda within a week as they were not starting to collect the garbage. The KMC and private sector have been collecting the trash in Kathmandu Valley separating the areas. Saying the private companies have not fulfilled their responsibility, the KMC warned of action against the private companies not managing the solid waste regularly. Activities to manage garbage started on Thursday after the four-point deal between Chief District Officers of Kathmandu, Dhading and Nuwakot and locals of Sisdol and Bancharedanda last week. Garbage collection was obstructed for the past two months. The solid waste produced in 17 other local levels including KMC is being managed at Bancharedanda. A total of 1,200 metric tonnes of garbage is produced in Kathmandu Valley every day. Of them, 500 metric tonnes of garbage is produced in the KMC.

Rajput ends hunger strike following three-point deal with government

Niharika Rajput ended her hunger strike on Sunday night following a three-point agreement with the government. Chief District Office of Kathmandu Govinda Prasad Rijal made an agreement with Rajput to address her demands. Rajput, who had been staging a hunger strike for the past 17 days, ended her strike in the presence of Minister for Law Govinda Prasad Koirala. Rajput, a single mother, has long been staging the protest demanding justice for her and her son. She has been accusing Shivaraj Shrestha of Janakpur of raping her when she was 17-year-old. Also Read: Niharika Rajput attempts self-immolation outside President’s office