Trader kidnapped

KATHMANDU: A group of four unidentified persons on Monday kidnapped a businessman, Mahendra Goyal, from Battisputali, police said. The police said that Goyal was coming out of his house when the four took him away in a taxi at around 1 pm. “No clue has been found yet,” inspector Jayraj Sapkota said. — HNS

Maoist shot dead

RAUTAHAT: A group of around 12 armed persons on Sunday night shot dead a Maoist area member, Kripalu Thakur, at Inarbari VDC in Rautahat. The men wearing masks took Thakur out of his house and shot him dead, the Rautahat district police office (DPO) said. A team from the Rajpur area police office and the DPO rea-ched the site on Monday and began probe, DSP Kuber Kathayat said. — HNS

Japan, China welcome new govt

Kathmandu: Japan and China on Monday welcomed the formation of an interim government. Japan said these steps would prove to be an important foundation for peace process. “Japan hopes that the interim government will proceed with preparations for the election as soon as possible,” stated a Japanese Foreign Ministry statement. In a message to PM Koirala, Chinese PM Wen Jiabao said: “China welcomes the efforts of realising lasting peace made by the concerned parties.”— HNS/RSS

RPP-N flays EC provision

KATHMANDU: The Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal on Monday flayed a provision whereby a new party has to furnish signatures of 10,000 voters while registering with the EC. “This is discriminatory provision,” it said. — HNS

New army spokesman

KATHMANDU: Brig Gen Ramindra Chhetri has been appointed the Director at the Army Directorate of Public Relations on Monday. A statement said Chhetri will also serve as the Nepalese Army spokesperson. — HNS

Maoist victims’ protest plan

KATHMANDU: Victims of Maoist insurgency are scheduled to stage a protest outside the venue of the SAARC summit in New Delhi on Tuesday. Coordinator of the struggle committee, Bhojraj Timilsina, said an 11-member team has already reached the Indian capital. — HNS