An Indian truck driver was shot dead by Maoists for defying the economic blockade which continued for the ninth day in Nepal even as a few cargo vehicles and passengers buses entered the capital amidst intensified patrolling.

Elsewhere in the kingdom, at least eight people were injured in separate attacks by the rebels.

Nripad Kumar Parveji, a resident of Nagpur, was fired at by the rebels at Charaudi Bazaar area on Prithvi Highway when he was returning to India after delivering goods in Kathmandu last evening. The police said he died on the spot.

Blockade complete in Western Nepal

Nearly half a dozen passengers were injured when the rebels opened fire indiscriminately at a passenger bus at Mugling, 90 km west of Kathmandu, police said. In another incident, two cyclists were injured when a bomb planted by Maoists exploded in Gadhimai section along the Pathlaiya-Birgunj

section of the Mahendra Highway.

The indefinite stir called by the rebels since February 13 to oppose the royal takeover has brought traffic to a virtual halt on all key highways and caused shortage of essential goods mainly in Kathmandu and Pokhara, the western Nepal tourist hub.

Nepal, the next Tibet

The prices of essential goods have soared in the capital, with the supply of vegetables and other essentials from the Terai region blocked due to the Maoist blockade. However, amidst intensified patrolling a few cargo vehicles and passenger buses, escorted by security personnel have entered Kathmandu.

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