By IANS
Kathmandu : The death toll from the violence that had engulfed a district in southern Nepal following the murder of a politician has risen to 12 with the discovery of seven more bodies.
Kapilavastu district continued to be patrolled by Armed Police Force three days after a spate of arson, looting and lynching by a frenzied mob following the death of Abdul Moid Khan, a politician who enjoyed the blessings of the palace as well as Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s Nepali Congress party. Khan was shot dead Sunday.
His murder triggered retaliatory attacks by his supporters resulting in over 100 vehicles and 300 houses being torched.
Till Tuesday, security forces had retrieved five bodies, including that of a policemen and a 10-year-old boy.
On Wednesday, seven more bodies had been found, a private television station said.
Two of them could not be immediately identified as they had been repeatedly slashed with sharp weapons.
Nearly a dozen people are still missing, Kantipur Television said.
The violence assumed sectarian colour with retaliatory attackers torching two mosques in neighbouring Butwal town and one more in Dang district.
The violence comes even as Nepal’s government said it was beefing security measures to ensure free and fair polls on Nov 22.
Soon after King Gyanendra seized power with the help of the army in 2005, Khan led a vigilante group in Kapilavastu that began attacking Maoists, killing at least 12 people.
Though rights groups repeatedly called for justice, Khan continued to enjoy immunity even after the fall of the king’s government last year.