Hundreds of Maoist activists on Sunday forcibly shut down Indian cosmetic giant Hindustan Unilever's joint venture plant in Nepal protesting the alleged encroachment of Nepalese territory by the Indian forces.
Activists of Tamang Rashtriya Mukti Morcha, affiliated to Maoists, forcibly shut down shops and vandalised half a dozen vehicles at Basamadi area in Makawanpur district in central Nepal, where Unilever plant is located.
The police fired tear gas shells as well as resorted to firing in the air to disperse the mob and bring the situation under control, a police official said.
The Maoists had called strike in 10 districts of central Nepal including Kavre, Rasuwa, Dhading, Makawanpur, Sindhuli and Dolakha as part of their programme to oppose the President Rambaran Yadav's move to reinstate the sacked Nepal Army Chief Gen Rookmangud Katawal.
Curfew was imposed in Banepa municipality of Kavre district, 55 km east of Kathmandu, after the Maoist cadres clashed with the locals who were opposing the strike.
