At least seven people were injured, two of them seriously, in an explosion during an election rally taken out by CPN (Maoist Centre) at Sunwal Municipality in Nawalparasi on Sunday.

Police said the explosion occurred at the bridge over Somnath stream. The explosive, which was hidden under rocks near the bridge, went off as the rally reached the bridge.

The injured people were taken to Lumbini Zonal Hospital and other health facilities. Superintendent of Police Rajendra Prasad Chaudhary said security has been beefed up in the area after the incident.

Meanwhile, a team of Nepal Army defused a bomb recovered at Badganga Municipality-11 in Kapilvastu on Sunday.

Blast outside home of NC mayoral candidate

An explosion rocked the residence of Khadga Phago, Nepali Congress mayoral candidate for Morang Urlabari Municipality, in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

Inspector at Area Police Office, Chandra Bahadur Thapa, said the blast,

which occurred at around 2:30 am, did not cause major damage and may have been perpetrated with the intent of causing terror to discourage election candidates and voters from participating in Wednesday’s polls.

An investigation is underway and the security in the area has also been heightened, Thapa added.

Phago said that he ran outside his house upon hearing the explosion but there was no one around.

He also urged everyone to take part in the elections and not be discouraged by

the incident.

In another incident, an improvised explosive device was recovered at a school, which is also a polling station for Biratnagar Metropolis-4 in Morang, on Sunday.

The IED was disposed off by security personnel.