Three people were injured, one seriously, when a ‘powerful’ bomb went off at the entrance of the office of telecommunications service provider Ncell in Nakkhu, Lalitpur, at around 8:00pm today.

According police sources, the injured have been identified as Singha Prasad Gurung, Pratiksha Khadka and Urusha Manandhar. While Manandhar was rushed to Kathmandu Mediciti Hospital, Gurung is being treated at B&B Hospital and Khadka at Alka Hospital.

Of the three, Gurung has sustained serious injuries to his leg.

Nepal Police Spokesperson Uttam Raj Subedi said preliminary investigations suggested the bomb might have went off just as Gurung kicked the container

However, a high-level source at Metropolitan Police Office, Kamalpokhari, said police suspected the explosion might have been carried out by Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal. “It is learnt that the party had sought donation from Ncell sometime ago. We suspect the explosion has been carried out in revenge. We, however, do not know whether Ncell paid the donation or not.”

The explosion was so powerful that people residing as far as 500 metres away could feel the reverberations. Window panes of nearby buildings have been shattered, while a pit was formed at the explosion site. Blood stains could be seen near the explosion site.

Meanwhile, a bomb disposal squad of Nepali Army defused a pressure cooker bomb kept inside Angan restaurant at Kamaladi.

Courtesy: The Himalayan Times (THT)