16 injured in clashes in Nepal on sixth day of Maoist strike

Kathmandu, May 7 (ANI): At least 16 persons were injured when a clash broke out between the UCPN (Maoist) activists and locals participating in an anti-shutdown rally at Bhandardik of Lekhnath Municipality in Nepal Kaski District on Friday.

Fourteen of the injured are Maoists and the other two are locals.

The Maoists who have imposed an indefinite strike since Sunday took out a rally after the people started demonstrating against the shutdown and chanted anti-Maoist slogans, subsequently leading to a clash.

Police lobbed a few rounds of tear gas shells to disperse the crowd after the clash turned violent.

In another incident, at least five persons including four policemen were injured in Attarkhel area of Jorpati district.

The policemen and a non-aligned civilian were caught up in the clash between the shutdown-enforcers.

Maoist cadres also clashed with the participants of the peace rally organised by professionals in Kathmandu.

Maoist has claimed that the clash ensued after the peace rally participants led by the UML youth wing Youth Force (YF) cadres pelted stones at them.

Likewise, tension also erupted in Patan after the participants of the peace assembly organised at Krishna Temple pelted stones at the vehicle being used by the Maoists.

Meanwhile, the representatives of professional organisations has warned the major political parties to find an outlet to the ongoing political crisis within two days by forging consensus.

They said the people would run out of their patience if the parties could not find a way out of the political mess that has brought Nepal to complete standstill, Kantipur reported. (ANI)