Maoists continue violence

KATHMANDU, Dec 21: Life across the country was crippled on the second day of the three-day Maoist general strike Monday. [break]

The third phase of the Maoist protest will conclude Tuesday afternoon, said Dr Baburam Bhattarai, who heads the Maoist United National People´s Movement.

The Maoists will converge at Baneshwar chowk from across the three districts of the Valley. "Party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal will address the gathering at 1 p.m. and the ongoing third-phase protest will conclude then and there," he said. Bhattarai has termed Monday´s protest peaceful.

Schools, offices, general stores and other businesses remained closed Monday as UCPN (Maoist) cadres forced the businesses to down shutters. Police arrested 17 protestors in connection with the violent activities. Cases under the Public Office Act have been filed against seven of the arrested, police said.

Giving continuity to their violent acts, the protestors attacked officials defying the strike, vandalized offices and torched vehicles, including an ambulance. They stormed into the Curriculum Development Center (CDC) under the Ministry of Education. Executive Director of the center, Haribol Khanal, sustained injury to his forehead in the Maoist attack inside his office, said Subodh Devkota, General Secretary of the Civil Service Employees Union. The Maoists also vandalized three vehicles belonging to the center.

Maoists vandalized the field office of USAID in Birendranagar, Surkhet on Monday morning. Five Maoists cadres, four of them masked, reached the office at 9:50 a.m., broke the lock of the Professional Development Services Unit office and vandalized the premises, USAID said.

“The main gate was open as the landlord lives upstairs. They suddenly broke the padlock and vandalized the office, asking why it was open,” district coordinator of the office Durga Dutta Regmi said. “We hadn´t opened our office yesterday (Sunday) and had no plans whatsoever to open today either,” Regmi added.

The local administration has deployed two security personnel at the office following the incident. Likewise, the Maoists also vandalized the Women´s Development Office at local New Road.

Maoist cadres manhandled five officials including the acting office chief at the Land Revenue Office in Parbat district while enforcing the banda (general strike), according to the Home Ministry.

The ministry said the Maoists set fire to four motorbikes in Biratnagar, a stationary truck in Jhapa and one motorbike each in Chitwan and Sindhuli districts. "The protestors also vandalized an ambulance carrying a patient at Bangahi in Rupandehi while it was en route to Butwal from Kapilbastu district," the ministry said.

Dailies halt publication

Four local dailies in Dadeldhura couldn´t be published Monday due to the banda called by the Maoists.

Hill Times, Himkhanda, Dadeldhura Post and Amargadi Post couldn´t bring out their Monday editions due to the lack of paper owing to the Maoists´ Kailali banda from Saturday.

“We can´t buy papers in bulk due to financial constraints and have to purchase almost daily. So, we have to stop publications whenever there is a long strike,” editor of Himkhanda daily and president of Dadeldhura chapter of the Federation of Nepali Journalists Ram Dhami said.