Nearly three dozen opposition party cadres arrested during Nepal's strike

Nearly three dozen Nepal's opposition party activists were arrested and released in the strike on Tuesday afternoon around the country for vandalizing private and government vehicles.

The one-day strike organized by the 30-party alliance crippled the daily lives of the common people across the country including the Capital City Kathmandu.

Talking to Xinhua on Tuesday, Deputy Inspector General of Police Madhav Joshi, who is also the spokesperson of the Nepal Police Headquarters, informed that 29 vehicles were damaged while 34 protests were nabbed during the strike for being involved in vandalizing and setting fire on the private and public vehicles.

A central leader and former minister of the Nepal's main opposition, Janardan Sharma aka Prabhakar, sustained injury on his head when violence erupted following a scuffle among the 180 opposition party lawmakers and the Nepal Police during a protest rally organized near the Constituent Assembly building in the capital.

Personal security guards deployed for the security of UCPN ( Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and party's senior leader and former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai were also injured during the scuffle.

Following the violence in the Capital, the Ministry of Home Affairs has beefed up security in the capital.

According to the main opposition party, the UCPN (Maoist), dozens of other party cadres were injured in several districts across the country.

The major cities -- Biratnagar, Birgunj, Pokhara, Butwal, Nepalgunj and Dhangadhi--were almost shut during the strike. Common people defied the strike in various parts of the country. Dozens of strike enforcers were also injured during the strike across the country.

Colleges, schools, public transport and universities including business firms could not open throughout the country on Tuesday, officials said.

Addressing the public rallies in the Capital City Kathmandu, opposition leaders said that they oppose ruling parties' efforts to draft the new constitution through voting by neglecting their demands.

With just two days left to meet the deadline of Jan. 22 for promulgation of the new statute, the ruling parties and the opposition are still sharply divided on the debated issues of the new statute.