Two leaders of the Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) have been remanded in custody on attempted murder charge in Udayapur district.

A single bench of Chief Judge Tejendra Prasad Sapkota of the Udayapur District Court remanded CPN District Secretary Baburam Subedi and another party leader Bal Bahadur Magar to custody on Wednesday, in a case related to an IED attack on a Nepali Congress election rally on December 2.

The explosion had left seven people, including the NC candidate Narayan Karki, injured. NC activist Mira Katuwal, whose right leg had to be amputated as a result of injury, is still receiving treatment in Kathmandu.

Superintendent of Police Nabaraj Bhatta said the accused duo, Subedi and Magar, were being investigated for setting off the IED, targeting an NC election vehicle.

Subedi has long been affiliated with the CNP while Magar is a former CPN (Maoist Centre) leader. Magar had contested for the post of ward chairman of Udayapurgadhi Rural Municipality-7 as a Maoist candidate during the local level elections a few months earlier. Udayapur police had arrested several CPN cadres in the run-up to the recent elections. The District Court has released them on large until next appearance.