Nepal poll candidate dies of bullet wounds

Mohammad Alam, a CPN-UML candidate for the Constituent Assembly polls, died today of bullet wounds sustained in an attack last week.
Alam, who was the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist's candidate for Bara constituency in southern Nepal, was shot by unidentified gunmen at Lipanimal village on October 4.
He was seriously injured as a bullet hit his head. His condition worsened after his kidneys failed. Doctors declared him dead this afternoon.
After being initially treated at National Medical College in Birgunj, Alam was airlifted to Kathmandu in a Nepal Army helicopter and brought to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital.
The CPN-UML expressed its anger over the killing and sought a speedy investigation.

"We are outraged by the murder. In recent years, there has been a series of political murders. Our party has concluded that these must be investigated by the authorities," the party said in a statement.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack on Alam, who was also chairman of the Muslim Ittehad Organisation. He had contested the 2008 polls from Bara district but did not win.
The CPN-UML had last week registered Alam's name as its candidate under the first-past-the-post electoral system for Bara constituency.
The killing was the first since candidates began campaigning earlier this month for the Constituent Assembly polls.