Taxi driver Niraj Baniya, 38, of Hetauda was on his way back to his rented room at Nakhipot, Lalitpur after dropping off some relatives at the airport when his taxi was set ablaze by two banda enforcers.
"As I was speeding back to reach home before the banda started, two passengers near Bhatbhateni Chowk sought help to get to Patan Hospital," Baniya said adding that within seconds one of them had sprinkled petrol on the seats and the other set them on fire. "I was saved only because the seatbelt was unfastened," he said recalling his ordeal. He also expressed worry about his only source of income.
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A five-year-old boy breaks down in tears as his mother confronts banda enforcers after they vandalized the scooter they were riding, at Chabahil Chowk, Kathmandu on Tuesday.(Sujan Dhungana/Republica)
A scooter with a woman and two children was vandalized at Chhabahil Chowk at 11:00 a.m. while they were trying to reach Gaushala. The children aged 8 and 5 felt intimidated as their mother confronted the enforcers, police deployed at the spot said.
At Bijuli Bazar, at least two people were injured in a clash that erupted between protesters and police. SSP Narayan Singh Khadka, spokesperson at Metropolitan Police Commissioners Office, said, "The clash ensued as the protesters tried to stop a police van carrying agitators who had been arrested for using force during the banda."
Police fired several rounds of tear gas and six police personnel and a protestor were injured, police said. The clash flared after former prime minister Baburam Bhattarai claimed in a tweet that police had opened fire at protesters.
"Police fired a few shells of tear gas in self-defence after furious protesters hurled stones at a police van but we didn't open fire," SSP Khadka said.
Scores of vehicles were vandalized and torched in different parts of the country, including Kathmandu Valley, and clashes were reported between police and banda enforcers.
Supporters of the 30-party alliance set a motorbike on fire for defying their banda in the capital on Tuesday.(Pratik Rayamajhi/Republica)
While the strike crippled livelihoods across the country, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a statement saying that it had partial effect, with more than 50 protestors arrested, 17 vehicles vandalized and three set ablaze.
In Kathmandu Valley, 11 vehicles were vandalized at different places and arson attempts were made on more than a dozen, police said. The 30-party alliance brought life across the country to a grinding halt as academic institutions and business districts remained closed while vehicles stayed off the roads.
However, vehicles belonging to the press, human rights organizations, hospitals, diplomatic missions, tourism entrepreneurs, water suppliers and dairies were allowed to run. A pick-up carrying vegetables was vandalized at Buddhanagar.
"The banda was relatively peaceful due to restraint and precautions," said Joint Secretary Laxmi Prasad Dhakal, spokesperson of the Home Ministry.
Following aggressive street demonstrations, the Ministry of Home Affairs had warned of serious legal action if the banda was imposed with force and public property damaged. The 30-party alliance demanding promulgation of a consensus-based constitution and implementation of past agreements had resorted to the general strike in an attempt to pressure the government and the ruling parties.
