Bhairahawa, March 7

Police today raided Communist Party of Nepal General Secretary Netra Bikram Chand’s house and 15 other houses in his village in Kapilvastu district.

The pre-dawn raid against Chand, who advocates violence to capture state power, comes on the heels of a blast outside Ncell office in Lalitpur that was carried out by the Chand-led outfit, killing one and injuring two.

A joint team of Nepal Police and Armed Police Force found weapons and ammunition from Shivagadi of Kapilvastu this morning. It is learnt that one person was taken into custody during the raid, but his name hasn’t been disclosed.

According to Kapilvastu Superintendent of Police Achyutam Prasad Pudasaini, Durga Rokka of Turuntapur, Shivaraj Municipality, was hit in the leg when he tried to run as police opened fire. He is undergoing treatment at Lumbini Zonal Hospital under police surveillance.

Police found two SMGs, three magazines, 129 bullets used in M16 guns, a Chinese pistol, two pistols, a remote control and around 40 metres of cable.

A clash ensued in the course of search operation when locals tried to prevent police from raiding the house of the party chief’s cousin, Yadav Chand.

According to Ward Police Office of Chandrauta, police constables Amar Oli and Putali Chaudhary received minor injuries when locals hurled stones at them.

Chandrauta Ward Police Office Inspector Maheshwor Upadhyaya blamed locals and students for the clash, claiming that police acted with restraint after students and locals started hurling stones. Local resident Ram Shankar Poudel said police had backed off in the face of protest.

According to Upadhyaya, three police teams deployed from Shivagadi raided 15 houses in Shivagadi area.

Shivagadi village is 3km north-west of Chandrauta on the East-West Highway and is said to be a stronghold of the Chand-led communist party.

Security personnel are camping at the Sundaridanda-based Area Police Office after returning from Shivagadi area. An additional police team led by SP Pudasaini has reached Chandrauta to take stock of the situation.

Meanwhile, police have also rounded up a dozen cadres of the Chand-led party from Dang, Rolpa and Palpa. Recently, the Chand-led party announced vehicular strike in Province 5 to protest arrest of its cadres.

The government swung into action against the Chand-led party after a fatal blast outside Ncell office in Lalitpur on February.

382 arrests in 11 months

• Nepal Police has arrested 382 cadres of Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal in the last 11 months
• Six women were arrested in the last two months
• In the last 11 months, Chand-led party cadres committed 43 crimes across the country and Nepal Police seized six weapons from CPN cadres
• CPN cadres indulged in 18 incidents of arson and vandalism, thrashed three people in the name of punishment, smeared soot on eight and seized land at four places

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