Strike paralyses normal life in Nepal, more than 70 arrested

Over 70 members of a splinter Maoists group were arrested today for vandalising vehicles while trying to enforce a strike to press for the release of their cadres arrested during previous protests, paralysing normal life here.
The CPN-Maoist faction led by Netra Bikram Chand enforced the strike.
The police arrested over 70 Maoist cadres who were involved in vandalising vehicles in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur.
There was very thin movement of public and private transport services. Schools and colleges were closed due to the strike.
However, markets remained open in most of the places in the capital despite the strike.

A large number of security personnel have been deployed on the streets of the capital to prevent any untoward incident.

CPN-Maoist, which is a splinter group of the main Maoist party, that is part of the government.
The Maoists, who staged a ten-year insurgency agains the state, entered mainstream politics in 2006.
The main Maoist party suffered a number splits after many former rebels accused its leaders of betraying their original revolutionary ideals.