FNCCI vice president Muraraka’s vehicle attacked

Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) vice-president Pashupati Muraraka today became the latest victim of the series of attacks launched against entrepreneurs in recent months.
Muraraka was preparing to leave for a meeting this afternoon when his Land Rover, parked on his office premises at Babarmahal, was attacked suddenly by two outsiders with hammers and bricks. His driver, who was in the vehicle, sustained minor injuries, but the vehicle has been damaged.
“The attack seems premeditated,” said Muraraka, who is also the chairman of Employers’ Council under the FNCCI. Though he claimed that he had not received any threats or calls seeking donation, the attack on his car in broad daylight could be a wake-up call for the government to act tough on such miscreants. “The attackers fled on their motorbikes parked somewhere near Murarka’s office,” he said. “It is not the first such attack on entrepreneurs as the modus operandi resembles the incidents in which Nepal Bankers Association (NBA) president Rajan Singh Bhandari and coordinator of Tourism Committee under FNCCI and hotelier BK Shrestha were made the targets some time ago,” he added. “Investigation has been launched to bring the guilty to book,” said SSP Rana Bahadur Chand, in-charge of Metropolitan Police Range, Hanumandhoka. He also urged businesspeople to report to police in case of any security threat to help the law enforcement agency take preventive measures. “We are ready to provide security if it is demanded,” he added.
FNCCI condemned the attack on Muraraka and said the series of attacks on entrepreneurs could be a signal that the country was heading towards instability. “The country seems to be going in the hands of criminals,” stated the umbrella organisation of the private sector and demanded that the government do the needful to bring the guilty to book also to boost the morale of the entrepreneurs.