Strike disrupts normal life in Nepali capital

KATHMANDU | 18 – 06 – 2009 | Normal life has been disrupted in Nepali capital Kathmandu and two other districts in the valley on Monday with the bandh called on by Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (UCPN-M) cadres.

Young Communist League (YCL) and other UCPN-M affiliated organizations called on bandh, protesting against the death of Rajendra Phuyal, the Kathmandu district committee member of the UCPN-M party, under mysterious circumstances.General traffic has come to a halt with UCPN-M cadres staging demonstrations and burning vehicular tires on the roads of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhanktapur district and also vandalized two vehicle belonging to medical and media personnel early Monday morning.

However, ambulances, police vans and vehicles of media were seen on the street.

Students unaware of the suddenly called bandh were seen returning home after the schools got closed down. Shops in main streets and other businesses also remain closed.

The UCPN-M called the bandh to protest the “suspicious killing” of the cadre Phuyal, who had been missing for a week. His body was found at the mortuary of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Secretariat and the Politburo meeting of the UCPN-M scheduled for Monday has been postponed for Tuesday, according to party spokesperson Dinanath Sharma.