By IANS
Kathmandu : The murder of a former parliamentarian’s kin in south Nepal Sunday triggered a series of retaliatory attacks, resulting in arson, looting and violence that began taking sectarian colour, forcing authorities to impose curfew in several areas.
Mohin Khan, father-in-law of controversial late parliamentarian Mirza Dilshad Beg who was reported to have links with Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI, was gunned down in the morning in the Chandrauta market area in Birpur town in Kapilavastu district by motorcycle-borne assailants.
Though no one claimed responsibility, the killing is suspected to be the handiwork of the Maoist guerrillas.
Khan, who was close to the army and the royal palace, was armed by the government in 2005, after King Gyanendra seized power through an army-backed coup, and led a vigilante group that began brutal attacks on suspected Maoists.
In March 2005, the vigilantes killed 12 Maoists, which went unpunished, and could be the motive behind Khan’s murder.
Soon after Khan’s killing, his enraged supporters went on the rampage, attacking shops, passing vehicles and government offices.
When news of the violence spread, a retaliatory attack began as armed mobs started rushing towards the area, triggering a sectarian violence.
The mob set fire to a mosque in Butwal town in neighbouring Rupandehi district.
A Muslim businessman and a policeman were also reported killed in the ensuing violence. However, Nepal’s home ministry said it had no confirmation of the two deaths and was awaiting reports from security forces.
An indefinite curfew was clamped in parts of Kapilavastu and Rupandehi.
The fresh violence comes a fortnight after serial blasts in Kathmandu killed three women and injured 26. Police have still not been able to make any breakthrough in the probe.
Nepal faces a crucial election 66 days later and Home Secretary Umesh Mainali was reported as saying that security would be beefed up from Tuesday.
Khan’s killing and its aftermath could have an effect on the Maoists’ threat to walk out of the government from Tuesday and start a disruptive protest. It would give them an additional handle for the move.
The violence caught visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon completely off guard.
Menon, who departs for New Delhi later Sunday winding up a two-day visit, said India condemned the Kathmandu blasts and appreciated the “resilience and determination shown by the people of Nepal in not allowing the act of senseless violence to adversely affect the peace process and the elections”.
He said that all the political leaders he had met, including Maoist chairman Prachanda, had said that the Nov 22 election was of “critical importance”.