Terrorists vandalise vahicle exchange centre in capital

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Sept. 1: Twenty two vehicles were damaged when a band of terrorists vandalised Tej and Karan Enterprises at Teku early this morning.

About 15 terrorists - one of them wearing a mask and carrying a gun - entered the complex at about 6 A.M. and began smashing the windshields of the cars parked in the garage, while setting fire to some of them.

Out of the 40 cars put up for sale and for reconditioning, seven have been badly burnt, while 15 have had their windshields broken. No one was hurt in the incident.

Only two hours earlier, a time bomb placed on an ambulance in nearby Kalimati had been defused by the army. While defusing the bomb, the windshield of the Mahindra Jeep was shattered.

Police put total damage at Tej and Karan at about Rs. 3.5 million, but Tej Karan Jain, proprietor of the enterprises told The Rising Nepal it could be much higher. He said much of the damage was repairable. Tej and Karan deals with the purchase and sale of used vehicles.

An eyewitness said that the terrorists suddenly barged into the premises and began vandalising the vehicles. Some of them poured petrol onto the vehicles and others, carrying iron rods, began smashing the glasses.

Another eyewitness Krishna Magar, also an employee with the enterprises, said," As I was entering the gate to begin work, I saw them running out of the garage. One of them who was wearing a mask pointed a gun at me. The attackers then dispersed in different directions."

Magar said that although the police was informed immediately after the culprits fled, they arrived almost an hour later. The workers put the fire out with the help of fire extinguishers.

The terrorists had also placed a small time bomb on the bonnet of Jain's car before fleeing. A staff member took the bomb outside and hurled it onto the street. The bomb exploded seven minutes later at about 6:50 A.M., shattering the windowpanes of nearby houses.

Proprietor Jain was not present when the incident took place. Jain said there was no warning of the attack. "It was unexpected."

Police at the Kalimati Ward Police Office said that they had arrested 15 people on suspicion but released them after interrogation.

This is the fourth explosion in the capital in a week. An armyman lost his life while defusing a bomb placed in a residential area in Patan on Thursday, while two people were injured when a pressure cooker bomb went off at Bishal Bazaar a day earlier. Last Sunday, two Maoist terrorists were killed while assembling time bombs in a rented house.

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