Himalayan News Service

Biratnagar, January 3

Explosions at four places in the region created terror, underscoring the Mechi-Kosi bandh by the ANNISU-R today. The impact of

the bandh was felt more in Dhankuta, Sangkhuwasabha, Ilam and Jhapa districts where the bombs went off. The bandh had a mild ripple effect on Taplejung and Bhojpur districts.

Security forces defused a socket bomb outside Apparels Momento Garment Factory in Bhadrapur, Jhapa. An explosion at 7 pm at Lekhnath Chowk of Chanragadi, Jhapa, on Friday injured 36 year old Dol Kumari Phunyal. Sources said that the Maoists detonated another bomb east of the Area Police Office.

No untoward event was reported on Saturday. Motorcycles, cycles, ambulance and security vehicles plied. In Dhankuta district, Maoists hurled a bomb at the

District Agriculture Development Office at 9 pm on Friday. The explosion razed the three-room building. Security forces also recovered a pressure-cooker bomb from the site.

The blast terror boosted the success of the bandh, causing markets to close down. In the district headquarters and other centres like Hile, Bhedetar, Sidhuwa and Pakhribas, drugstores were open but no passenger vehicle plied. Travellers were left in the lurch. The polio vaccination drive too was affected.

Meanwhile, including Mangalbare, Phikkal, Pashupatinagar and Bimblyante most places wore a deserted look.

On Friday, the Maoists blew up a transformer of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) substation in Ilam. Power supply to all VDCs west of Maikhola river remains disrupted. Purna Tuladhar,

NEA branch manager, said it would take at least a week for power supply to resume. The blast has caused the NEA a loss of

Rs 1 million.

In Sangkhuwasabha, Maoists torched the Nepal Red Cross building in the district headquarters of Khadbari but otherwise the bandh had little effect on normal life. Sunsari and Morang districts of the Kosi zone were hit badly, though. In Taplejung district, the bandh was partial and security forces forced shopkeepers to open up after 8 a.m.

The Maoists had called the bandh to protest American intervention and the killings of their cadres by security forces.