KATHMANDU, Jan 17: A day after the outlawed CPN(Maoist) led by Netra Bikram Chand claimed that it had seized land belonging to Lalita Niwas at Baluwatar, the government on Thursday said activities of the Chand-led group such as planting bombs and putting up flags were just publicity stunts. 

Speaking at a weekly press briefing at his office, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gokul Banskota claimed that the government was not trying to shield anyone involved in the Lalita Niwas land scam. “Nothing will come of putting up flags in different places. They should have shown their daring if the government was working to shield someone. The government is instead duly investigating the case,” he said.

Banskota’s remarks come at a time of speculation that the government is maneuvering to protect members of the political leadership involved in the Lalita Niwas land grab case. Ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) General Secretary Bishnu Paudel, among others, is found to be involved in the scam also. 

Late Wednesday evening, the Chand-led group had triggered a powerful bomb explosion at the residence of Shova Kanta Dhakal—one of the masterminds in the Lalita Niwas scam—in the Nagarjun area of the capital. Although the explosion left the main entrance and a car parked on the premises partially damaged, there was no human casualty. 

The same group had planted a pressure cooker bomb on Lalita Niwas land also that evening. The group left pamphlets saying the land had now been seized by them.

During the press briefing, Banskota, who is also the government’s spokesperson, said such guerrilla tactics would be futile. “They might have thought that such activities over an issue of public concern could create a public perception of how powerful they are. But we have been saying that these are terrorist activities pure and simple, and this has now been borne out,” he further said. Banskota also added that Lalita Niwas land belonged to the Nepali people.

 
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