KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 16

The Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal's nationwide bandh today went largely unheeded with most of the market areas across the country staying open and many private vehicles plying the roads defying the shutdown.

The general public, however, faced some inconvenience commuting with long-route public transport staying off the roads out of fear of action from the cadres of the Chandled CPN.

A large number of shortroute public vehicles and private vehicles were seen operating inside Kathmandu valley.

Shops, department stores, and showrooms remained open inside the valley even though people's movement in the market was significantly low, hitting these businesses.

Meanwhile, police arrested 212 CPN cadres across the country for attempting to enforce the shutdown. Of them 22 were held from the valley.

They were arrested for obstructing the roads, vandalising vehicles, and forcing people to shut their businesses.

Similarly, four vehicles were vandalised by protestors for operating during the strike. Of them one public vehicle operated by Sajha Yatayat was vandalised early morning at Kumaripati, Lalitpur.

Nepal Police Spokesperson SSP Basanta Bahadur Kunwar said that they had started releasing most of the bandh enforcers. 'But, we might keep some of them, who had vandalised vehicles and public property, in police custody for today,' Kunwar said. The NCP had called for Nepal bandh protesting the recent price hike of petroleum products and cooking gas. However, people defied the bandh.

The government had, on March 5, lifted the ban on the Chand-led outfit after two years. Chand, signing an agreement with the government, had said they would choose peaceful politics abandoning all violent activities.

A version of this article appears in the print on November 17, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.