Maoists blockade Nepal

HUNDREDS OF people queued up outside petrol stations in Nepal's capital on Friday fearing fuel shortages after Maoist rebels called for a ban on vehicles entering the city.

HUNDREDS OF people queued up outside petrol stations in Nepal's capital on Friday fearing fuel shortages after Maoist rebels called for a ban on vehicles entering the city.

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Since Thursday, not a single cargo vehicle has moved into the kingdom from Raxaul in Bihar, through which Nepal gets its petroleum supplies.

Indian consul-general Gururaj Rao, based in Birgunj, across the border from Raxaul, said, "About 300 cargo vehicles are stranded on the Indian side. We are closely monitoring the situation."

With all supply lines, especially to Kathmandu, getting snapped, the Nepal government has decided to provide Army escort to vehicles.

There has been some panic buying in the capital. Prices of vegetables have gone up by about 20 per cent and cooking gas and kerosene, have vanished from the market, a consumer group said.

Since Wednesday, the rebels have been blocking movement of vehicles in new areas every day. The rebels' threat of attacking any vehicle defying the ban has brought traffic to a halt on Mahendra Rajmarg, Tribhuvan Rajmarg and Prithvi Rajmarg, which connect Kathmandu with India and the Nepalese lowlands, and Araniko Rajmarg that goes to Tibet.

The rebels said the latest ban on goods entering Kathmandu was to press for information about hundreds of missing comrades and protest against alleged custodial killings of Maoists, who authorities say died in clashes with soldiers.