Police have arrested seven suspects on charge of being involved in the attack on Khagendra Shrestha, editor of Dharan Today, in the eastern town of Dharan on Tuesday.

The state-run Gorkhapatra daily quoted chief district officer of Sunsari, Padma Raj Regmi, that the it is yet to be ascertained who was behind the attack and what was their motives.

Shrestha, who was injured seriously when two unidentified boys shot him from close distance, is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Siliguri, India, according to his family sources.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued Wednesday, Department of Public Relations (DPR) at the Royal Nepalese Army headquarters has said the assailants involved in attacking Shrestha were Maoists.

There has been no word from the side of the insurgents as yet.