Pressure-cooker bomb explodes outside Indian consulate office in Nepal

In a rare attack on a foreign mission in Nepal, a pressure-cooker bomb exploded outside the office of the Indian consulate in the country's eastern Biratnagar city damaging its wall but no one was hurt, police said today.

The homemade device went off last night at Biratnagar, 200 kilometres from Kathmandu.

The bomb was triggered by an unknown group in an open space behind the building and created a small hole in the wall, the police said.

However, Indian Embassy in Kathmandu has not yet issued any formal statement on the incident.

Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Raveesh Kumar in a statement in New Delhi said that Indian embassy in Kathmandu was in touch with the Nepal government over the incident and that the security authorities in that country were investigating the matter.

"A minor explosion took place along the rear boundary wall of the camp office of embassy of India at Biratnagar, Nepal at about 20:15 hours on April 16. No one has been injured in the incident," Kumar said.

Sources in the security establishment in New Delhi said the explosion caused a hole of around 1 feet by 1.5 feet in wall of the consulate towards the secluded rear side of the office building.

They said no one was in the office at the time of the explosion.

The camp office of the consulate was set up during the floods in Nepal and north Bihar.

Investigating officers suspect that cadres of a local political group have caused the blast. The party had called a general strike in Biratnagar yesterday.

A senior officer of Nepal police said it was investigating to find out who caused the blast.

The security around the blast site has been stepped up after the incident.

Biratnagar is the industrial capital of Nepal and 6 km north of the border of Bihar.