Explosions at a dozen telecom towers across Nepal, one killed

Police said similar attacks took place in at least 11 more places, mostly near the NCELL telecommunication tower, around the same time, but no casualties was reported.

“No individual or group has claimed responsibility, but the government suspects that the semi-underground Nepal Maoist Party led by Netra Bikram Chand Biplab may be behind the explosions,” said a senior Home Ministry official.

The Nepal Maoist Party, which broke away at least six years after the Maoist Party led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda joined the peace and democratic process, has been talking about “completing the unfinished revolution”. Biplab has blamed Dahal of compromising the ideals of the revolution for power.

Biplab has not yet claimed responsibility for the incident, but his silence in the face of accusations directed at him has fuelled speculation.

In February 1996, the then underground Maoist group led by Dahal had overrun four police posts calling it the beginning of “annihilation of class enemies”, which resulted in the killing of 17,000 people in the decade-long conflict that followed. During the period, a large number of private businesses were victims of extortion, more than five dozen banks were robbed, and hundreds of bridges and telecommunication towers were destroyed to paralyse the communication system and movement of troops. Friday night’s blasts was to some extent similar to the tactics used during the period.