Maoists' strike paralyses life in Nepal

Maoist cadres took to the streets here and blocked roads by burning tyres, police said. They torched a motorcycle in Koteshwor and vandalised another six vehicles for defying the shut down in various parts of the capital city.
Schools, colleges and markets remained closed in Kathmandu and other major cities. Transportation services were also halted.

There were also reports of minor clashes between police and agitating Maoist cadres in Chabahil, Lainchaur, Gaushala and Baneshwor areas.
Some 50 Maoist cadres involved in stoning of shops and vandalising vehicles have been taken into custody, said Kathmandu's Chief Superintendent of Police Ganesh Khatri Chhetri.

Dozens of Buddhist pilgrims were stranded at Tilaurakot near Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Buddha, in western Nepal after the Maoists stopped two tourist buses coming from Myanmar, according to the police.
Maoists also halted distribution of newspapers in Pokhara, a famous tourist spot in western Nepal.

The impact of shutdown was also felt in Kailali, Dhanusha, Dhankuta and other districts of the country. In Dhankuta the Maoists vandalised half-a-dozen vehicles for defying their strike, reports reaching here said.

The Maoists enforced the strike in protest against the police action in Baliya area of Kailali district, where 2,500 huts built by landless squatters were destroyed by security personnel on Friday and Saturday.

The Maoists had promised the squatters that they would provide land to them in the forest area in a bid to build their vote bank in the western Nepal's remote villages.
As police tried to clear the area, Maoists-backed squatters resisted, resulting in clashes that left six people dead, including a security personnel, and over 50 injured.

The Maoists-backed squatters were attempting to encroach the forest area at a time when Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal is engaed in highlighting the danger posed by the climate change to the country.He held a Cabinet meeting at the base camp of Mt Everest two days back to draw the world's attention towards the environmental problems faced by the country due to the melting glaciers.