KATHMANDU: Usha Manandhar, 25, a nurse at the Medacity Hospital was heading towards her residence at around 8 o’clock on Friday night at Nakhhu in Lalitpur when she heard a loud bang of a bomb that exploded near the Ncell office.

She got injured in the explosion and fell down unconscious. When she gained her sense, she was in the hospital.

Pratikshya Khadka, 26, a resident of Bagdol in Lalitpur, too, was heading towards her residence and fell victim to the same explosion. Both Manandhar and Khadka are improving gradually, according to Dr. Anil Acharya at the Medicity Hospital.

However, victim Singha Prasad Gurung, 49, a resident of Bhainsepati area lost his life. Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa has assured that the government will bear the treatment cost of the injured and that the culprits in the incident will be brought to justice.

Likewise, a few moments later after the Nakhhu incident, a pressure cooker bomb was found near the Aangan Sweets, a restaurant at Kamalpokhari in Kathmandu. A bomb squad from the Nepal army immediately diffused the bomb.

Likewise, Ncell towers were torched in different locations yesterday night, one at Chandrakalika hill in Pokhara and the other at Shuklaphanta Municipality-4 in Kanchanpur district.

Series of blasts in several parts of the country by unidentified groups has alerted the police administration. “We are now on high alert,” said Uttam Raj Subedi, spokesperson of Nepal Police.

The police has initiated a manhunt after the incident, said Rabindra Dhanuk, the Chief at the Lalitpur Metropolitan Police.

Police have taken some people in custody in connection with the incident but are yet to identify the culprits. The police suspect that Biplab group is behind the incident. That is because the Biplab group, a breakaway faction of the then Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) had issued warnings to Ncell over charges of not paying tax to the government, not following the Supreme Court order, and deceiving its clients.

JITPUR: A woman died under mysterious circumstances at Banganga municipality-4 of Kapilvastu last night. The deceased is identified as Anita Poudel, 32. Since the body has wound on many parts of the body the incident is mysterious, said Superintendent of Police Achyutam Pudasaini, adding that details of the incident would be known after postmortem.

KATHMANDU: Road accident claimed a life at Basundhara this morning. The deceased is identified as Pradeep Neupane, 39 a teacher at a private school. The accident occurred as a public vehicle (Ba 4 Kha 8407) en route to New Bus Park from Maharajgunj hit his two-wheeler (Ba 55 Pa 299) at Basundhara. Neupane was rushed to the nearest hospital where breathed his last.

KATHMANDU: Buffalo attack claimed a life at Manchegau of Chandrahiri Municipality early morning. Kumar Bikram Thapa, DSP at Metropolitican Police Circle Thankot informed that Manbir Maharjan, 70 died from the attack. Police fired bullets to kill the buffalo as they could not bring the buffalo under control.

BHIMDATTANAGAR:  Parents of Nirmala Panta have postponed a sit-in after three months by submitting a memorandum to the prime minister, through the District Administration Office, Kanchanpur, yesterday. They had been staging the sit-in at the main gate of the District Administration Office demanding action against the culprits behind the rape and murder of their 13 year old daughter.

“The government has not been serious in taking action against the culprits even after seven months of the heinous crime,” complained Yagya Raj Panta, the victim’s father. The aggrieved parents called off the strike owing to health reasons.

KATHMANDU: One person died from the injuries sustained during the bomb blast at the Ncell headquarters at Bhainsepati, Lalitpur last night. Singh Prasad Gurung seriously injured in the incident died while undergoing treatment at B&B Hospital this morning.

According to police spokesperson Uttam Raj Subedi, other two injured are undergoing treatment.  Ayusha Manandhar is receiving treatment at Mediciti Hospital and Pratiksha Khadka is receiving treatment at Alka Hospital.

JUMLA:  Snow deposits on mountain passes of Gamgadhi-Nagma section of the Karnali highway have forced the closure of the highway for the past one month. Around five feet thick snow deposits on the road has rendered vehicular travel impossible. Attempts to open the highway by removing the snow using bulldozers have failed.

Umakanta Adhikari, Chief District Officer of Mugu district said that the efforts to open the road were hampered by the latest spell of snowfall.  This has led to the shortage of daily supplies including edible products and cooking gas in Gamgadhi market, the district headquarters.

Kalakadha road that connects to Khatyad rural municipality is also obstructed due to snow deposition since the past one month. To the consequence the health post at the municipality is facing shortage of medicines.

Foot trails to the district headquarters from Khatyad through Rara and Jeude is also blocked due to snow.

Kathmandu: Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, Minister for Foreign Affairs is leaving for Geneva to participate in the 40th Session of the UN Human Rights Council today evening.

Gyawali and his delegation will attend the inaugural session of the Council on 25th February. He will address the Council on the 26th of February. The foreign minister will have a bilateral meeting with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, H.E. Ms. Michelle Bachelet On the 27th February.

During his visit, Foreign Minister Gyawali will also have a bilateral meetings with his counterparts from different friendly countries as well as heads of the UN agencies based in Geneva. He will also visit the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva.

Minister Gyawali is scheduled to have an interaction with Non-Resident Nepali Association and Nepali community leaders there.

The delegation comprises of the Chairman of the Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee of the House of Representatives and senior officials from the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Nepal is a member of the UN Human Rights Council. Minister Gyanwali is scheduled to return home on the 28th of February.

LAHAN: Various national dailies were set on fire at Lahan bazaar of Siraha district this morning.

Some 400 copies of newspapers such as Kantipur, The Kathmandu Post, Saptahik and Hello Shukrabar were set ablaze by an unidentified group in front of Sita Nobel News Center. The newspaper were meant for sale.

The newspapers were burning when he reached the site, according to Dinesh Dev, the proprietor of the News Center.

The police is investigating the incident, according to Rajesh Thapa, Deputy Superintendent of Police at Area Police Office, Lahan.

DAMAULI: Total 57 workers of a health facility in Tanahun are deprived of their monthly salary since mid-September last year.

The staff at GP Koirala National Respiration Treatment Centre based in Shuklagandaki Municipality-5, Belchautara complain of financial difficulty in lack of regular pay. Puja Karki, a non-gazetted first class officer complained of her pain of having to rely on her kin for money despite being employed.

The treatment center is unable to provide salary to its staff due to government’s failure to disburse the budget, according to Dr. Raj Kumar Shrestha, Chief at the center.