KATHMANDU, May 7: When a local of the Muni Bhairav area saw an abandoned schoolbag in the parking lot of the Muni Bhairav Complex at Koteshwar in the capital at 5 pm Monday, police sprung into action. Police found the bag contained some suspicious items.

Police then coordinated with the Nepal Army (NA), which then sent its bomb-defusing squad to the site. It turned out that there was no bomb.

The army spent two hours removing the object. Traffic movement along the Tinkune-Koteshwar was affected. 

Spokesman of Metropolitan Police Range Office (MPRO), Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Hobindra Bogati said it remains unclear who placed the bag there and why.

According to the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTPD), following the discovery of the bag, the road alongside the complex was closed and vehicles were diverted away. 

In the nine months of the current fiscal year, a total of 53 explosive devices have either gone off or were defused across the country.  Last fiscal year also, explosives were detected in 54 cases, according to Nepal Police.

Police officials said that the number of bombs found across the nation has been increasing due to the increase in activities of the Netra Bikram Chand led Communist Party of Nepal (CPN).

“There were 27 cases of bomb detection across the nation in Fiscal Year 2016/17 which doubled to 54 in fiscal year 2017/18,” an official from the police headquarters told Republica.

 
• bomb
 
• Koteshwor
 
• action