The Koirala government, it seems, is unsuccessful in protecting the various industries the present monarch owns or holds shares in. In the build up to the bandh called by the Maoists earlier this month, it appears they targeted factories owned by His Majesty. This is the first time the Maoists have targeted any facility owned by royalty. Why are they doing this now?

According to sources, the factory of Surya Tobacco in Bara, in which His Majesty owns shares, was attacked a few days ago-the Maoists lobbed a pressure cooker bomb on the premises. Luckily, it did not cause a lot of damage. The company has not released an account of the damage.

After setting off the bomb, the Maoists manhandled a security guard, and took away his communication set. Surprisingly, they have not yet taken responsibility for the event. A few days later, the Maoists exploded a bomb on the premises of Sipradi Trading. His Majesty owns a certain percentage of this company too. The Maoists attacked the company's premises in Satungal and set afire some buses imported from India for the Armed Police Force. Four were damaged. Sipradi has not released a statement on damage done. A statement released by the company recently said His Majesty does not own shares in the company, either directly or indirectly.