A policeman was injured in a blast at a police post in a village in the Maoist stronghold of Rolpa district overnight, police said Sunday.

The injured policeman has flown to Nepalgunj for emergency treatment for serious injuries sustained in the blast. Rebels shot and injured three members of a Shah family at Dharauni village in Dang district Friday, police said.

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba told a rally of the ruling Nepali Congress Party is far west Nepal Sunday rebels are flouting an understanding to stop violence during continuing negotiations between the government and Maoists to end an insurgency that has claimed more than 1,800 lives in nearly six years.

Deuba has asked his negotiating team to begin the third of talks with the communists soonest after Maoists suggested Tuesday as the date for the next round of negotiations, government sources said. They suggested the talks be held either in Kathmandu, Biratnagar or Dhankuta.

Deuba again reiterated constitutional monarchy and multi-party are non-negotiable even as the insurgents call for a republic in the kingdom.