Kathmandu, Jan. 17 -- On Wednesday evening, an improvised explosive device went off at Sano Bharyang in Kathmandu. The explosion, which was targeted at the house of Shova Kanta Dhakal, allegedly a key person in the Lalita Niwas land scam, was quickly claimed by the Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal.

More IEDs were discovered in the Baluwatar area, where the prime minister and the chief justice's residences, and Nepal Rastra Bank are located. The Nepal Army managed to defuse the explosives and there were no casualties.

The larger question here, however, concerns the role of the security and intelligence agencies and their consistent failure to prevent the Chand party from carrying out terrorist activities. A senior police o...