Kathmandu, April 2:

Leaders of the civil society today urged the leaders of the major political parties to immediately punish their cadres involved in confrontations at different parts of the country yesterday despite a 10-point agreement to ensure free and fair election.

During their meeting with members of a tripartite committee of the three largest parties, civil society leaders including Damannath Dhungana, Padma Ratna Tuladhar and Nilambar Acharya voiced their concern especially over yesterday’s clash between the Nepali Congress and Maoist activists in Rasuwa.

“The incident that came shortly after the 10-point agreement between the major parties is a issue of a serious concern and we have urged them (the leaders) to immediately intervene and initiate action against the perpetrators to avert backlashes,” Acharya told this daily.

The tripartite panel comprising Amrit Kumar Bohara of CPN UML, Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat of Nepali Congress and Mohan Baidya ‘Kiran’ of CPN Maoist urged the civil society leaders to probe into the incidents.

“We told them that it may not be possible for us to investigate into each and every incidents.

But we would definitely act as a watchdog and press the leadership for immediate intervention if and when required,” Acharya said.

The tripartite panel formed yesterday following the ten-point agreement between the Nepali Congress, UML and Maoist leaders also held its meeting today to discuss ways to chalk out effective strategies to avert confrontation among the three major parties at the local level.