BIRATNAGAR: Maoists resorted to violence today on the second day of three-day general strike called by them. Maoist cadres thrashed Haribol Khanal, executive director of Curriculum Development Centre in Bhaktapur for opening the office, defying their strike call. According to Thimi Police Range DSP Bipin Karmacharya, the protesters entered the office and manhandled Khanal this afternoon. “I was working in my office room when 10 to 12 persons entered and beat me up, asking why I was in the office during bandh,” Khanal said. The cadres also asked other employees to leave the office and vandalised three vehicles parked on the office premises. In Mugu, photojournalist Kabiraj Karki was thrashed while he was taking pictures of bandh. He is undergoing treatment in Mugu hospital. Federation of Nepali Journalists stated that his condition is reported to be critical. The UCPN-Maoist activists also vandalised an ambulance and beat up its driver in Banakata of Kapilvastu. The driver is undergoing treatment in Lumbini Zonal Hospital. Surkhet-based office of USAID and the office of Woman Development Programme in Birendranagar were also vandalised. The unruly mob barged into USAID office soon after the office opened in the morning. Computers, telephone sets and tables were damaged. Young Communist League activists attacked two persons affiliated with Tarun Dal and CPN-UML in Gorkha district, injuring them seriously. Tarun Dal Gorkha district secretary Dhruba Panta and CPN-UML district member Bhola Shrestha were badly hurt in YCL action. Panta sustained serious injuries in the head. Medical Superintendent of Gorkha hospital Dr Gonaraj Lohani said Panta was referred to Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu for further treatment. Maoist district secretary Chudamani Khadka Prakash said Shrestha was taught a lesson for defying the bandh by opening his shop. Violence was also reported in Biratnagar, where offices of Nepal Electricity Authority, Nepal Airlines Corporation, Department of Food Technology and Quality Control and Land Mapping were vandalised and vehicles were torched for defying bandh. In Phidim, eight persons, including three policemen, were injured when protesters clashed with cops. Hundreds of pilgrims returning from India on seven buses were stranded in Rupandehi’s Belahiya. Publications of four daily newspapers was halted in Dadeldhura due to the bandh. In Birgunj, the Maoist cadres mercilessly assaulted managers of two large industries for defying the bandh. The Maoist cadres affiliated to Nepal Trade Union Federation attacked the managers and the employees of Himal Iron Industries inside Jyoti Farm in Parwanipur and Shivashakti Packaging of Simara in Bara after vandalising the offices. The Maoist cadres also ruthlessly assaulted the manager of Shivashakti Packaging. Violence was also reported in Doti, Dhankuta, Bhairahawa, Butwal and Dhangadhi.

PM threatens to use force to curb violence

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal today urged UCPN-Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” to return for talks, calling off the ongoing agitation, which has turned violent across the country. In a telephonic conversation with Prachanda on the second day of three-day nationwide general strike called by the Maoists, the PM told the Maoist chairman that violent acts would only invite confrontation, leading to derailment of the constitution-making and peace building processes, twin goals of the Constituent Assembly. Raghuji Pant, Chief Political Advisor to the PM, told this daily that the PM reminded the Maoist leadership that their agitation had also violated the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, a binding accord that bars the signatories from resorting to bandhs or general strikes till the new constitution comes into force. The PM is also learnt to have told the Maoist leadership that the government would be left with no other option but to use force to maintain law and order if the agitating Maoists turned violent. “The government has been exercising restraint. We still want to resolve all the problems through talks,” Pant quoted the PM as telling Prachanda. The PM has intensified parleys with top leaders to end the political deadlock since his return from Copenhagen, Pant said.

Strike to end today

KATHMANDU: The United National Peoples Movement of the UCPN-Maoist stated on Monday that the three-day general strike would end after nationwide mass meetings on Tuesday afternoon. According to a press statement issued by UNPM chairperson Dr Baburam Bhattarai, demonstrations will begin at 12 noon and mass meetings would be organised at 1 pm in different parts of the country before ending the general strike. In the Kathmandu Valley, all the rallies from Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur will converge at New Baneswor at 1 pm, where party chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ will address the gathering. Meanwhile, an informal meeting of a few cabinet ministers today instructed security bodies to be on high alert to prevent any untoward incident during the general strike. The meeting was headed by Deputy Prime Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar. Home minister Bhim Rawal, defence minister Bidhya Bhandari, finance minister Surendra Pandey and energy minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat were present in the meeting that took place in Singha Durbar.