Pokhara, September 28:

The nationwide daylong strike called by the Rastriya Jana Morcha Nepal to protest federalism and the Citizenship Bill affected life in the country. In Pokhara, RJMN activists brought vehicular movement to a halt. Only press vehicles and ambulances were seen on the road.

RJMN activists burnt tyres in squares of the Pokhara city.

Situation remained tense in Damauli of Tanahun district throughout the day after argument between bandh organisers and labourers, who chased away RJMN activists to reopen the Prithvi Highway.

In Syangja, vehicular movement came to a complete halt. Shops, government and private schools remained closed.

Chitwan district also saw a complete halt in vehicular movement. Examinations of private and boarding schools were disrupted. Some other schools have postponed today’s examination for Tuesday.

Due to the strike, Nepalis returning home from foreign countries for Dashain have been stranded on the Nepal-India border in Belahiya, our Bhairahawa correspondent said. Hundreds of Nepalis have been staying in hotels of Belahiya, while some have headed to Butwal on rickshaws, paying exorbitant fares to rickshaw-pullers. Bhairahawa and other border areas have been affected as bandh organisers parked vehicles in the middle of roads.

According to locals, life has come to a halt in six districts, including Arghakhanchi and Gulmi of the Lumbini zone.

The main bazaars of Palpa, including the district headquarters Tansen, remained shut throughout the day. Vehicles remained off the roads, while educational institutions and factories were shut. Only a handful of medicine shops and hotels remained open.

The RJN cadres were deployed in different parts of Tansen to enforce the strike.

The strike affected life in Jhapa and Udayapur districts also. The main bazaars of Udaypur, including Katari, Rampur and Beltar remained open, though, the police said. The protesters disrupted vehicular movement in in different parts of Rautahat. They staged protests in Gaur, Garuda and Chandranigahapur of the district. Vehicles remained off the roads in Phidim, the district headquarters of Panchthar at the call of Federal Limbuwan State Council (FLSC). Bandh had no effect in Dhankuta district.

Blast near hotel

BIRATNAGAR: A bomb went off near Hotel Xenial, the programme venue of the Nepal Telecom Biratnagar on Sunday evening.

DIG Sharada Bhakta Ranjit, and Morang CDO Madhav Prasad Regmi were present at the venue. According to SP Yogendra Katuwal, the police had not been able to locate the spot where the blast occurred.

The police suspect that the blast was triggered in the open ground near the hotel. Panic gripped people living in the area after the blast. Talking to mediapersons over the phone, Morang in-charge of the Madhesi Mukti Tigers, Rajib, owned up to the explosion.

He said the explosion was carried out because organisers of the programme had defied a three-day bandh called by his party. — HNS