Kathmandu: Nepalese Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has made a fresh call for talks to agitating Madhesi groups in Terai demanding more rights as violence escalated in the restive region leading to injuries to over 150 people, detention of dozens and curfew in six districts.

"I call upon the agitating groups in Terai to come forward for talks to resolve their problem peacefully," Koirala said at a programme here. The government was prepared to sit for talks on all issues except for those that would go against national interest, he said.

More than 100 people were injured in clashes between the agitating Madhesi groups and the police in Mohattari and 50 others wounded in Siraha and Janakpur yesterday, according to Nepal Sadbhavana Party sources.

In Siraha, the agitators vandalised two police vans and the election training office. Curfew was clamped in Mahottari, Dhanusha, Bara, Parsa, Siraha and Nepalgunj districts where clashes erupted between the agitators and the security forces.

Prominent Madhesi leader Rajendra Mahato, however, flayed the government saying it continues to suppress the agitators despite their lip service for talks.

Mahato, also President of Nepal Sadbhavana Party, one of the three agitating groups in Terai, said the government should first create conducive atmosphere for talks by releasing all detained protesters and must stop using force against the agitators.

"We are ready to sit for dialogue to resolve the issue," he said adding, "how can we expect anything from the government which is trying to suppress our movement by using force".
Source : PTI