Rupandehi, January 22:

Hundreds of passengers and vehicles remain stranded following a Maoist roadblock at Rupandehi’s Devdaha Sheetalnagar on Mahendra highway.

According to the Butwal area police office, Maoists placed stones, trees, and bombs on the road last night. An army helicopter did an aerial survey of the site. Meanwhile, security forces have not reached the spot yet, locals said. A security source said the Maoists raodblock has the support of the seven political parties, and it was a problem clearing it. Not content with planting a lantern bomb, the Maoists also felled a tree and placed it on the road.

They also seized a passenger bus full of pilgrims from India’s Rajasthan and parked it across the road. The pilgrims, bound for Pashupati, said their money was running out.

“We are troubled since last evening,” Mohan Bista, bound for Kathmandu from Surkhet, told this daily. “We are waiting in vain for the road to open.”