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Nearly 200 strike enforcers arrested in Nepal: police

Xinhua, July 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

Nearly 200 members from the Communist Party of Nepal Maoist were arrested Friday for their involvement in torching and vandalizing public and private vehicles during a one-day strike, according to Nepalese police.

"We have arrested as many as 188 strike enforcers so far," police spokesperson Kamal Singh Bom told Xinhua by phone, adding that 19 private and public vehicles were vandalized and torched during the strike.

The strike, which was called by the CPN Maoist, a splinter faction of the Mohan Baidya-led CPN (Maoist) party, has crippled normal life across Nepal, including the capital city.

Public and private vehicles stayed off roads while business firms, major markets, small shops, schools, colleges and private companies have remained closed due to the strike.

Ambulances, media vehicles, vehicles of the Kathmandu-based diplomatic missions and tourist services were allowed to ply on the road.

The one-day strike hit the capital Kathmandu and major cities such as Biratnagar, Pokhara, Chitwan, Nepalgunj and Dhangadhi, local media reports said.

In a press statement, the CPN Maoist under the leadership of Netra Bikram Chand, said it called the strike against the ongoing constitution-drafting process.

The party termed the process "anti-people," saying it can't meet the spirit of the marginalized people.

The Chand-led opposition party challenged the government's national campaign to collect public feedback on the preliminary draft of the constitution, which was organised by the government on Monday and Tuesday.

The campaign has witnessed an overwhelming participation of the public across the Himalayan country except in the Madhesh region - the southern belt of the country bordering India.

Millions of people from various walks of life joined the national campaign and gave their suggestions on the draft of the new constitution.

According to the action plan endorsed by the Constituent Assembly, after collecting public inputs on the draft, the Committee on Citizens Relations and Public Opinion Collection would submit a report to the Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee for further discussions on the draft on July 23. Endi