All-party meet held

BIRGUNJ: An all-party meeting was held here on Friday with the objective of encouraging people to cast their votes in the upcoming municipal elections. The participants of the meeting organised by the Parsa District Development Committee said the DDC should play an active role in generating awareness on the polls. Various political parties have said they will field candidates for the polls and asked the local administration to provide security to the candidates. Narayani zonal administrator Prajapati Koirala said no one can grab the people’s right to vote and that the government will use any legal means to ensure smooth polls. — RSS

Service camp held

RASUWA: Over 2,400 locals have benefited from a free two-day service camp run at the historic Kalikasthan, Dhaibung VDC, of southern Rasuwa in accordance with the government policy of providing services to the people at a single venue. According to chief district officer Trilok Prasad Shrestha, Durga Box Battalion and District Health Office provided services, including free health check-ups and distributed medicines to some 575 people, while the District Ayurveda Health Centre distributed various herbal medicines to 165 people. Citizenship certificates were provided to 396 people, passport to five people, reading materials to 100 people, vegetable seeds to 1089 people. The Rasuwa District Development Committee (DDC) provided financial assistance for the conduct of the two-day camp. — RSS

Blasts in Pokhara

POKHARA: The Maoists detonated a bomb at the house of Royal Nepalese Army Lieutenant Santosh Karki in Lekhanath municipality on Saturday night. Some parts of the building was damaged in the bombing, locals said. Similarly, the Maoists detonated a bomb at Pokhara-based Survey General Office on Saturday eveing. The outer shutter of the office has been damged in the explosion. — HNS

35 houses robbed

SARLAHI: A group of armed robbers looted property worth about Rs 3 lakhs from 35 different houses in Shreepur VDC of Sarlahi on Wednesday night. Around 20 dacoits entered the the village and started looting houses at around 11 pm on Wednesday night, Khehari Roy, a local, said. After the incident, the robbers were seen headed for Murtiya VDC, eyewitnesses said. SP Manohar Rimal of District Police Office, Sarlahi, said: “After the locals informed us about the incident, a police team has been dispatched for the incident site. — HNS

Policeman killed

NEPALGUNJ: Police constable Bal Bahadur Nepali, a resident of Dailekh, was killed after a pistol he was carrying went off inadvertently on Saturday morning. Nepali died en route to Kathmandu for treatment, security sources said. Nepali had been deployed for the security of Kumar Baban Singh Kunwar, vice-chairman of the Banke District Development Committee. The pistol went off as Nepali was cleaning it. — HNS

Chakkajam in Sarlahi

SARLAHI: The activists of the seven agitating parties organised a half-an-hour chakkajam from 3:00 pm to 3:30 pm on the Hariban section of the Mahendra highway on Saturday to protest against the arrest of political leaders and activists in Kathmandu on Thursday. Issuing a statement, Sushil Kumar Sharma, secretary of Nepali Congress, Sarlahi, urged all Nepalis to unite for their rights. — HNS

One killed in mishap

DHANKUTA: Forty-year-old Dil Kumar Rai, a resident of Khoku VDC, was killed on the spot when a tractor bound for Chhintang from Hile bazaar of Dhankuta met with an accident at Aakhisalla VDC on Friday night, the District Police Office, Dhankuta said. Rai was travelling in the tractor (Ko 1 Ta 3190), police said. The driver of the tractor has been taken under police control. — HNS

Interaction on rights

TANSEN: A day-long interaction on the ‘Role of Journalists, Civil Society and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in the Present Situation of Human Rights’ was organised in Tansen, the district headquarters of Palpa, on Saturday. The western regional office of the NHRC had organised the programme. — HNS

Property looted

DHANGADHI: An unidentified armed gang looted cash and valuables worth about Rs 50,000 from the house of Tek Bahadur Shah of Dhangadhi Municipality Ward No 13 on Wednesday night. Some ten armed looters also beat up the family members, it is said. — RSS

Pillion riding banned

MAHENDRANAGAR: The District Security Committee, Kanchanpur, has banned the pillion riding within the Mahendranagar Municipality area from Friday for an indefinite period. The decision was made after two policemen were wounded when two Maoists who had come on motorcycles shot at them on Friday. — RSS