Bomb blasts at two Jhapa churches

JHAPA, Sept 15: Three bombs went off, including three at two churches, in Jhapa district on the same day the provision on the Constitution Bill describing Nepal as a secular nation was endorsed by the Constituent Assembly. All explosions occurred on Monday night around the same time.

The socket bombs had been planted in the churches at Gauradaha, Damak, Khajurgachi and Surunga, according to the District Police Office (DPO), Jhapa. The bombs planted at Damak and Khajuragachi exploded before they could be defused.According to locals, bomb planted in Swatantra Basti of Kankai Municipality-3 was spotted on Tuesday morning and two police personnel reached the site after villagers alerted the police about it.

"We requested them to be careful as they were playing with it like a toy," said a local of Surunga. "Later we came to know that the bomb exploded five minutes after they reached the police post."

Three police personnel sustained injuries during the blast. Three police personnel injured in the incident are Assistant Inspector Dev Narayan Yadav, Head Constable Bharat Karki and policeman Kedar Poudel. They are currently undergoing treatment at B & D Medical College of Birtamod.

Similarly, two socket bombs went off at Jyoti Mandali Church of Damak-10 at around 11:30 at night. Six people had been sleeping on the upper floor of the church. Although the church sustained damages, no human causalities were reported.

"One of the bombs had been planted in the church's meeting hall while the other at the gate," said the church's pastor Andy Thulung.

"The bombs were placed with the pure intention of killing. Fortunately, none of us were outside where the explosion took place."

At the same time, another bomb exploded in Westland Church of Khajuragachi-9. This time, too, no human causalities were recorded.

The attacks on churches, targeting the Christian community, have left the whole district terrified. Security has been tightened in the district after the incident. According to the police, pamphlets with the words "Hindu Morcha Nepal" were found at all the bomb blast sites, however, no one was come forward to claim responsibility for the explosions.

Jhapa district has more than 90 churches with most of them serving as a home for pastors and their family members.

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