Himalayan News Service

Chitwan, May 17:

A group of 10 suspected Maoists detonated a bomb at the Hotel Gainda Wildlife Camp in Chitwan last night. The hotel is located within the premises of the Royal Chitwan National Park (RCNP). An employee of the hotel, Shiva Bhandari, said that the group had left after leaving a pressure cooker bomb at the store room of the hotel at around 7.45 pm. Around 42 tourists — 30 Indians and 12 Chilians — were enjoying a dance party at the theatre hall of the hotel at the time of the blast, Bhandari said. All the liquor and food materials were destroyed in the blast, he added.

The tourists came to know about the blast only this morning. The hotel, which is located at 1.5 kilometres from Sauraha, is owned by Dipak Bikram Shah and Prabhu Shah and was being run by Bijaya Kumar Pande. The Maoists, however have not taken the responsibility of the blast yet.