By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS
Kathmandu : Protests began to erupt in the capital Monday, demanding that the government hunt out and punish the culprits behind Sunday’s serial blasts that killed two women and injured over two dozen persons, including children.
Spontaneous protests began on the circular road surrounding the capital, in Maharajgunj in the city, and in Nekap and Balaju with people burning tyres on roads and condemning the explosions that targeted ordinary people.
Anger ran high in Nekap, which lost a resident in Sunday’s blasts.
A 12th grader from the area was killed when a bomb went off at a bus station in the busy Tripureshwor area, close to a high school.
One of the three blasts near the Balaju Industrial Area mangled a mini-bus and killed a 40-year-old woman, identified as Kamladevi Shahi.
The Balaju Micro Bus Association Monday began demonstrations in Balaju and Machhapokhari, where the dead woman lived, protesting against the attack on a public transport vehicle.
Protest rallies were also reported from Dolakha district in northern Nepal.
Security was beefed up at the entry points of the capital with patrols searching passing vehicles.
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala summoned his cabinet in an emergency meeting this afternoon to discuss the security situation, especially in view of the crucial parliament elections now only 79 days away.
Various political parties, human rights groups and the UN condemned the attacks and urged the government to bring the guilty to task.
Ian Martin, appointed by UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon as his special representative to oversee the peace negotiations between the parties and the Maoists, said acts of terror would “discredit whatever cause they are claimed to promote”.