Three persons have been killed and seven others injured in a bomb explosion in front of the Nepal Oil Corporation office at Babarmahal in the capital on Monday afternoon.

Krishna Bahadur Tamang, apparently in his mid-thirties, of Baireni-9, Dhading was killed on the spot in the blast, SP Rajendra Shrestha, chief of Kathmandu police, said. The identities of the other two–one of whom also was killed on the spot and the other who died in Bir Hospital during treatment–are yet to be established, according to the police officer.

Among the injured are Som Bahadur Tamang of Bara, Raghunath Khadka of Bhaktapur, Lal Bahadur Tamang, of Dhading, Bishnu Pulara, an NOC employee, of Dhangadi, Basu Shrestha of Luvu, Lalitpur and Man Bahadur Kunwar and Bhim Bahadur Kunwar of Achham. All the injured are undergoing treatment at Bir Hospital.

Speaking to the media, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar, who visited the explosion site, said preliminary investigation suggested the involvement of United Ethnic Liberation Front Nepal (Samyukta Jatiya Mukti Morcha Nepal), an armed outfit, in the blast that happened at around 1pm.

Kathmandu police chief Shrestha, however, declined to name any particular group behind the broad daylight explosion carried out in the capital´s one of the sensitive areas, only some 200 meters south of the country´s administrative hub Singha Durbar, poising grave question to the city´s security arrangement.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has talked to chiefs of security agencies with regard to the incident and instructed them for improved security situation in the country. Likewise, following the incident a meeting of security chiefs was held in Singha Durbar.

Source: Republica