Blast at Nepal vice president’s home

NEPAL: Unidentified assailants threw a small bomb at the house of Nepal’s vice president in a Kathmandu suburb on Sunday, wounding at least one security guard, police said.

Vice President Paramananda Jha was unhurt in the blast that shattered the window panes of his private home. Jha was elected as Nepal’s first vice president last month after the Himalayan nation abolished the 239-year-old monarchy and turned it into a republic.

His election sparked angry protests after the retired Supreme Court judge, an ethnic Madhesi from the southern plains bordering India, took the oath of office in Hindi language.

“Somebody threw a bomb at the window of my home under the cover of darkness when there was no electricity in the area,” Jha told Reuters. “I am safe but the blast destroyed the window panes of the building.”

He said two of his security guards were hurt but police officer Shailesh Gurung said only one guard was wounded.

Kathmandu, Sunday, Reuters