In an apparent attempt to disrupt local elections slated for May 14, Improvised Explosives Devices (IEDs) were detonated in Nawalparasi, Makwanpur and Siraha districts on Thursday. 

An IED went off near a programme venue of the Nepali Congress at Purano Kawasoti Bazaar in Nawalparasi district on Thursday evening. It exploded while Amrit Shrestha, a ward chairman candidate, was addressing the corner meeting in Kawasoti-3 at around 6:45pm. Locals ran helter-skelter after the blast. There was no human casualty in the incident, police said. 

Earlier IEDs have been recovered from the houses of three mayoral candidates in Nawalparasi district.

An unidentified group planted the IEDs at the house of CPN (Maoist Centre)’s mayoral candidate for Gaidakot Durga Dutta Dhungana and the mayoral candidate of the same party for Kawasoti Dansiram Bashyal’s residence on Wednesday night. Similarly, an IED was found from UML mayor candidate Bhim Lal Adhikari’s house in Madhyabindu.

A Nepal Army bomb disposal team defused the explosives on Thursday. 

Police suspect that the IEDs might have been planted on Wednesday night by anti-election groups or individuals. 

The local administration has urged the public to inform police if they come across any suspicious activities in their locality. It has claimed security has been stepped up in the area. 

In Makwanpur, one person was injured when an unidentified group detonated an explosive at Hetauda Sub-metropolis-16 on Wednesday night. Shyam Prasad Dahal, 34, who sustained injuries in his legs in the blast, was taken to Kathmandu for treatment, police said. 

The assailants detonated the IED made of cooking gas cylinder near the CPN-UML ward candidate’s residence at around 9:45pm. The incident took place as the victim went to the area after dousing a fire near his house. 

Dahal, a judicial service officer, came home to cast vote in the local elections. It is suspected that the IED was detonated to terrorise the candidates and voters. 

Another IED was detonated at the office of Sagarmatha Zonal Traffic Management Office in Lahan, Siraha, on Thursday. The pressure cooker bomb went off in a rest room of the office at around noon, police said. There were no human casualties.