Maoist strike cripples Nepal; 150 arrested

Kathmandu, June 9

Over 150 members of a splinter Maoists group were arrested today in Nepal after they vandalised vehicles and hurled patrol bombs while trying to enforce a strike to press for the release of their cadres arrested during previous protests, paralysing normal life.

The CPN-Maoist faction led by Netra Bikram Chand enforced the strike. The protesters vandalised nine public buses and taxis in different parts of the capital for defying their call for the strike.

A truck driver was injured when Maoist cadres hurled a petrol bomb on moving vehicle in Rautahat district. There was very thin movement of public and private transport services. Schools and colleges were closed due to the strike. However, markets remained open in most of the places in the capital despite the strike. The police arrested 62 protesters from Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and  Lalitpur, according to the Kathmandu Metropolitan Police Circle. Nearly 90 agitators were arrested from Sarlahi, Kaski, Kalikot, Sunsari, Banke and Chitawan districts as they were trying to enforce the shutdown.

A large number of security personnel have been deployed on the streets of the capital to prevent any untoward incident.

CPN-Maoist, which is a splinter group of the main Maoist party, that is part of the government. The Maoists, who staged a ten-year insurgency against the state, entered mainstream politics in 2006.  — PTI