Blast at Indian Embassy field office in Nepal, Maoist hand alleged

A pressure cooker bomb went off near the Indian Embassy field office in Nepal's Biratnagar late on Monday damaging the walls of the premises, Nepal Police has said. No one has claimed responsibility.

The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu has not made any remarks regarding the blast yet. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement that no one was injured in the explosion.

“A minor explosion took place along the rear boundary wall of the Camp Office of Embassy of India at Biratnagar, Nepal around 8:15 PM on Monday. No one has been injured in the incident. Our Embassy in Kathmandu is in touch with Government of Nepal. The security authorties in Nepal are investigating the matter,” MEA said in a statement.

It is suspected that a splinter group of Maoist-led by Netra Bikram Chand could be responsible for the blast due to its anti-Indian rhetoric in the past.

According to the Superintendent of Police of Morang district, Arun Kumar BC, the blast occurred close to the office that India, he said, was operating without permission of the Nepal government.

The police has launched a probe. There have been repeated calls from various quarters to evacuate the field office, Kumar said.

Following the Koshi River flood in 2008, Nepal requested India to provide its land for transportation and passage for transit facilities until its highways were repaired.

To assist smooth facilitation of the Nepali vehicles via Indian land from Biratnagar to Birgunj, India had temporarily set up the field office in Biratnagar. It has remained there for a decade now.

Every visiting Nepali Prime Minister to India has requested for its removal but India did not.

(The story was updated at 2:08 PM with a response from the Ministry of External Affairs)

(with IANS inputs)