Local activities of the eight parties attacked the leaders and cadres of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (Nepal), a pro-King party led by Rabindra Nath Sharma, in eastern Jhapa district. Hundreds of eight-party cadres led by the Maoists stormed into a gathering of RPP-Nepal in Birtamod Thursday afternoon and beat up at least half a dozen RPP-Nepal supporters. They also tried to manhandle party's chairman Sharma, but he escaped unhurt, according to reports. Former royalist minister Tek Narayan Rajbansi, Jhapa District Development Committee's former chairman Rajendra Lingden and former DDC vice-chairman Rohit Ranbansi, former mayor of Mechi Nagar Municipality Kalyan Khadka and party workers Bhupendra Lingden and Sagun Lawati were among those injured in the attack. Randradra Lingden and Lawati who were seriously injured in the incident have been brought to Dharan for treatment while others are undergoing treatment at a local hospital. The eight-party activists took them under control, blackened their faces and forced them to march around the town, reports added. Following the incident, police escorted Sharma and his wife to the district headquarters Chandragadi. Local eight-party activists chanted slogans against RPP-Nepal and the monarchy when Sharma was being driven to Chandragadi for safety. In the past, RPP-Nepal leaders and supporters had come under attack whenever they tried to organise public gatherings. nepalnews.com mk Mar 15 07