Two killed in fresh Terai violence

Kathmandu, Oct 15 (IANS) Two people were shot dead in southern Nepal Wednesday, a day after an explosion in the same plains killed three.

S. Mussalman and Ram Prasad Chaudhary, both members of the debutant Terai party Terai Madhes Loktantrik Party, were gunned down in Kapilavastu district by an armed group.

No one has claimed responsibility for the killings.

The murders come after the ceasefire called by 14 armed groups active in the Terai plains ended Tuesday.

Though the Maoist government this month formed a three-member ministerial team to engage the rebel outfits in dialogue, talks are yet to start formally.

Since 2006, when King Gyanendra's army-backed government fell, the Terai has been a cauldron of violence with armed groups waging separate movements for wresting greater rights for Madhesis, people of Indian origin living in the plains.

Several of the underground groups are led by former Maoists, who have been taking armed training and obtaining arms supplies from neighbouring towns of India across the open border.

Recently, the groups held a secret meeting in India's Bihar state in a bid to forge an alliance and start a unified armed struggle against the state.