Deputy Superintendent of Police Dan Bahadur Karki in Butwal said the deceased is a 35-year-old male who is yet to be identified. The blast that occurred at Milanchowk Sunday evening ripped through a bus (Lu 1 Kha 3666) headed from Bhairahawa to Butwal. [break]
Meanwhile, Kavre has became the first hill district to witness a passenger bus blast. A socket bomb exploded inside a parked bus (Ba 2 Kha 5771) at Deurali, Sano Bangthali-2 Monday morning, according to Inspector Mahesh Jung Karki, police spokesperson of the district.
The bus was empty when the blast occured. It damaged the front tires of the bus and the fuel tank, Karki said. The bus owned by Araniko Yatayat used to operate the Dolalghat-Koshipari route. Police recovered a leaflet mentioning “Janabidroha Abhiyan” from the blast site. The leaflet bears the signature of Muktidata, general secretary of Jatiya Samyukta Mukti Morcha, police said.
Despite the explosion, Deputy Superintendent of Police Ganga Pandey of the central region urged people to remain calm. “Some underground groups are trying to assert their presence,” he said. “To control this, we have beefed up security along the border and on highways in the Tarai, said Pandey in Bara district.
Police have notified bus drivers and conductors to provide information about suspicious passengers.
“Security is tight. A few blasts are not reason enough for panicking,” he said.
Meanwhile, Republica correspondent Upendra Lamichhane reports from Birgunj that people in the Tarai are frightened following the series of bomb explosions in moving buses. Today, they fear bomb explosions more than road accidents while traveling. In the last four days alone, three bomb explosions in moving buses have taken place in Butwal, Rautahat and Banke districts, killing one and leaving dozens more injured.
"We are more fearful of explosions than accidents while traveling by public bus," Roshan Aryal, a Birgunj-based rights activist, said.
Dahal blames external forces
Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has accused external forces for recent string of bomb blasts and attack on a prisoner inside jail.
"The bomb blasts started after Nepalis formed their government on their own, making themselves proud," Maoist Chairman Dahal said at a function at the party´s headquarters in Kathmandu Monday.
He then questioned: "Who came to open fire in the jail? Who sent the assailants? Who is behind the everyday bomb explosions? Who sent them [those involved in the crimes?
NHRC concerned
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has expressed concerned over series of explosions in public buses in recent days, urging the government to strengthen security.
Saying that planting explosives in passenger buses is a serious human rights violation, the national human rights watchdog has urged those involved to abstain from committing such grave crimes.
In a statement Monday, NHRC has also urged the government to provide treatment and compensation to the blast victims and punish the guilty.
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