Violent incidents were reported from several places during the general strike called by Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) on Saturday.

Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were detonated in various places while suspicious objects were planted in public places in the past 24 hours, terrorising the local people.The assailants also torched vehicles in Bara and Ilam districts for defying the strike.

In Gulmi, the assailants detonated IEDs in Baletaksar and Tamghas on Friday night. The suspicious objects were recovered on Tinau bridge and Mandap in Butwal on Saturday morning. There was bomb hoax in the office of Province 5 chief minister.

Similarly in Kailali, the assailants detonated an IED near the ward office of Gauriganga Rural Municipality-2. There were no reports of damages in the incident, police said. An IED was also recovered near a petrol pump in Dhangadhi-4. A Nepal Army team later defused the device.

In Bara, a group of four masked men hurled a Molotov cocktail on a tipper truck at Bhimsakhuwa in the district on Saturday morning. The vehicle was badly damaged in the incident. The driver and his assistant escaped unhurt as they jumped off the vehicle on time and fled. There were reports of IED blasts and recoveries of such explosives in other places, including Dhading and Lamjung.

(With inputs from local correspondents)