Over a dozen injured in Maoist scuffle in Maitighar

KATHMANDU - At least a dozen Maoist cadres and three policemen have been injured in clashes between the agitating Maoists and the police deployed at Maitighar area in Kathmandu on Sunday.

The clash broke out after the Maoist tried to defy the prohibitory order and beat up one person on charge of being an anti-Maoist ‘vigilante’.

Police lobbed a couple of teargas shells to disperse the mob.

Earlier, the agitating Maoists held two persons captive on charge of opening shots at the Maoists from the roof. All detained duo, said to be employees of the National Investigation Department, were latter handed over to the team of OHCHR.

Areas around Singha Durbar were declared prohibited zones in view of the Maoists protest.

The violence comes a day after the Maoists called off an indefinite strike on Saturday calling for the government to step down.

The agitating Maoist that had postponed the indefinite general strike paying heed to the plight from various quarters of the society and international community changed the structure of its protest following the pressure from the national and the international arena.

The Maoist will hold its Standing Committee meeting in order to prepare its agitation modus operandi later today.

Meanwhile, Nepali Congress has reiterated its stance that national consensus government could be formed only after forging consensus on the peace and statute-drafting processes. NC leader Krishna Sitaula said: “At least the task of integration and rehabilitation of the Maoist combatants must take pace and that there should be an agreement on the number of combatants to be integrated in national army.

“The Maoist should propose the number of combatants to be integrated and their combatants must be brought under the government purview,” Nepalnews quoted him as, saying. (ANI)