E-Paper
Maoists target Tata Motors' dealer in Kathmandu
Maoist rebels continue their intimidation campaign against business ventures, targeting the sole dealer of India's Tata Motors in Nepal on Wednesday.
Maoist rebels continue their intimidation campaign against business ventures, targeting the sole dealer of India's Tata Motors in Nepal on Wednesday.
Sipradi Trading private Limited, which also operates a state-of-the-art workshop for vehicles in Kathmandu, had a close shave on Wednesday after three bombs were left in a plastic carrier in front of its office in Thapathali, Kathmandu, close to the Supreme Court and the Prime Minister's Office.
Though the security forces defused the bombs, the incident is bound to create a fear psychosis among the business community that has been the recent target of the rebels.
The incident occurred on a day when Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba begins a five-day goodwill visit to India.
On Monday night, the trade union of the Maoists had issued an e-mail, naming 36 companies, including Indian joint ventures, saying these would be closed down from Sep 10 to make the government heed their demands.
The demands include removing the terrorist tag on them, disclosing the whereabouts of detained cadre, punishing security personnel responsible for the killing of its members and compensating the bereaved families.
Sipradi Trading is among the 36 companies named in the list. It belongs to the Soaltee Group of Nepal, which seems one of the primary targets of the Maoists, with several of their ventures on the hit list.
Sipradi is also the exclusive dealer in Nepal for India's Exide Industries Limited, selling both industrial and automotive batteries, and was recently appointed by India's Bharat Petroleum Company Limited as the exclusive distributor in Nepal for the latter's lubricant business.
Though the state media has been ignoring Monday's diktat, the Maoists' potential to put their threat into action, right in the heart of the capital, can be gauged from the fact that Tuesday night, three blasts went off on the premises of a luxury hotel in the upmarket tourist area, Thamel, close to the palace itself.
The targeted Hotel Malla, said to be owned by a descendant of the former Rana prime ministers of Nepal, is also on the hit list.
Deuba, who readies to fly out to New Delhi, will be accompanied by about 20 businessmen. Deuba is also scheduled to address a gathering of the Confederation of Indian Industry to invite Indian investment in Nepal.
Indian investors account for 36 percent of foreign direct investment in the Himalayan kingdom.
However, one of the largest Indian companies, ITC, whose joint venture Surya Nepal is the largest single tax-paying entity in the country, has been shut down indefinitely since Aug 17 following a Maoist threat.
Surya's garment division is the new target of the rebels and has been named in the new list.
The Soaltee Group also has a stake in Surya Nepal.
