A group of assailants allegedly beat two tender bidders by holding them hostage in Palungtar, Gorkha, on Friday.

The assailants confined Ram Thapa and Hari Bhattarai, representatives of Worldwide Construction Company, to a hotel room for four hours for registering bids called by Palungtar Municipality. The victims claimed that the miscreants had assaulted them as instructed by Baburam Shrestha and Surya Bhandari, the district chairman and general secretary of the Contractors’ Association, respectively.The municipality had invited bids for construction of the building for ward 9 office and for upgrading the road linking wards 5 and 6. Friday was the last day to file the tender.

“We reached the municipal office to register the tender form at around 10am. A man enquired about us asking why we had come up with bids without consulting with the contractors’ association. Shrestha telephoned and called us to meet at a local hotel soon after we registered the bids,” Bhattarai told the Post. According to him, the assailants who were at the hotel with Shrestha and Bhandari threatened the duo.

“They did not attack me as I am a local of Palungtar. But the assailants thrashed Thapa,” said Bhattarai, adding that the attackers did not let them use their cell phone at the hotel. According to Bhattarai, the assailants also got them to disclose the bid amount. “They later demanded Rs200,000 from us after we told them the tender rate,” said Bhattarai.

They are preparing to lodge a complaint against Rajan Sunar, Khusi Tamang, Rohan Gurung and Sandip Tamang for the manhandling, said another victim. He alleged that the contractors’ association bars others from registering bids.

The group of assailants also misbehaved with Deputy Mayor Pampha Basel who informed the police about the incident. “Bhattarai and Thapa came to my office room after they misbehaved with the duo. And I informed the police about the incident. They verbally abused me for contacting security personnel,” she added.Superintendent of Police Prakash Adhikari said an investigation is under way. “We are searching for the suspects. We have asked the victims to register a complaint,” he added.