Police in Nepal’s Parsa district detained four people after a suspicious object resembling a bomb was discovered in a vehicle carrying a candidate of the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) during a late-night security check, authorities said.
Suspicious Object Discovered During Security Check
According to the District Police Office in Parsa, the incident occurred at around 11:00 p.m. during a routine inspection at Badaniyar Chowk in Parsa Gadhi Municipality-3. Police stopped a vehicle with registration number Ba 10 Cha 1250 and found a suspicious item inside the trunk.
Police said the object was kept inside a tin box wrapped with brown tape, with black and red wires protruding from it, raising suspicion that it could be an explosive device. The vehicle was carrying Manoj Kumar Chaudhary, a Communist Party of Nepal candidate contesting from Parsa Constituency-2.
Also inside the vehicle were Satyanarayan Das, a mayoral candidate for Parsa Gadhi Municipality, and Suraj Karki. Police identified the driver as Sheikh Munna Ansari, a resident of Chhapkaiya in Birgunj.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Hari Bahadur Basnet said police immediately took all four individuals into custody and secured the vehicle after the suspicious object was discovered. They were taken to the District Police Office in Parsa later that night.
Investigation Underway
Brijlal Paswan, a central committee member of the Communist Party of Nepal, said Chaudhary had been traveling in the area to celebrate the Holi festival and meet party supporters. During the trip, police stopped the vehicle for inspection at Badaniyar Chowk.
Police moved the vehicle to a secure location after the discovery. A bomb disposal team from the Nepali Army arrived at the site on wednesday morning to examine the object.
Superintendent of Police Sudip Raj Pathak, chief of the District Police Office Parsa, said further investigation into the incident is ongoing. Authorities are working to determine the nature of the object and the circumstances surrounding its presence in the vehicle.