*ISLAMABAD – Four men died and seven were injured Sunday in three separateexplosions in Kathmandu, Nepali police said.*
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but police said they suspectthe involvement of a Maoist splinter group whose pamphlets were found in ahouse where one of the explosions took place.
A powerful blast inside a shop killed three people and injured four, whilethe explosion at a home about four kilometers away left one dead andanother injured.
Two more were injured when an explosive they were carrying on a motorcyclein the outskirts of Kathmandu exploded.
Security personnel also defused explosives in other areas.
“We are investigating all incidents and have stepped up the security,”police spokesman Bishwa Raj Pokharel told AFP.
Pokharel said that seven people have been arrested so far.
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The incidents come on the eve of a nationwide strike called the same Maoistsplinter group, protesting death of their cadre in a police encounter overa week ago.
Nepal has enjoyed a relatively peaceful environment since the end of adecade-long civil war which concluded with a peace deal struck in 2006.
But some former guerrillas, have broken away, accusing its leaders ofbetraying their original revolutionary ideals.
In February, the group was implicated in an explosion that killed oneperson outside the office of a telecom company Ncell, part ofMalaysia-based Axiata Group Berhad.
The government outlawed the group following the incident, banning theiractivities. -APP/AFP
