The flames that began after the Morcha exploded the office at 10:30 pm on Tuesday were controlled only on Wednesday morning. Police extinguished the fire after locals informed about the incident. [break]
According to District Superintendent of Police, Rameshwar Yadav, land related documents recorded in the office had already burnt to ashes before they could reach the office. "We controlled the fire with the support of locals," said Yadav. "It took nearly half and hour to extinguish the fire."
Locals are worried about the damage of documents. "The office was already in problem and was not delivering services in a quick and effective manner," said Ramratan Sah, a local, adding, "The incident would further worsen the situation." It has been estimated that documents of nearly two third land in the district were destroyed in the incident.
Locals also vented ire against the Morcha. "The Morcha claims that it has been working for the betterment of the people. In deed, it has been working against the people´s aspirations. If it doesn´t stop its activities, we would be compelled to retaliate against the Morcha," said a local woman on condition of anonymity.
Prithvi Singh, politburo member of the Morcha, owned up the incident by approaching some local journalists and media houses over the telephone. According to journalists, Singh claimed that they detonated the Land Revenue Office as corruption was rampant within the office.
He also claimed that they are also targeting the UCPN (Maoist) district office as the party had failed to address Madhesi people´s agenda. The Morcha had kept a cylinder bomb at the Maoists´ Mahottari Party Office on Tuesday which was later defused by the Nepal Army.
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