An unidentified group has set four excavators and a tipper on fire at Annapurna Quarry in Jogimara, Dhading. The three machines were destroyed in the blaze which also caused minor damage to six other tippers parked on the premises. Three of the destroyed excavators were new. The damaged machines belonged to Prema Construction Company owned by Tufail Ahmad Khan, an employee of the District Development Committee. The damaged has been estimated at Rs 60 million. Ambar Gurung, a local of Jogimara, said an unidentified group set fire on the construction equipment at around 8 o’ clock on Saturday night and dispered after firing three shots into the air. “We doused the fire,” he said, adding that the group had dispersed after splashing pamphlets of CPN (Maoist) with slogans against Indian “expansionism”, blockade and investment.

Saturday’s incident took place at the same place where similar incidents had occured in the past, according to Bhojraj Koirala, manager at the quarry. Interestingly, three excavators and a tipper belonging to other people were, however, spared. On January 31, Khan had also lost two other excavators to fire set on by an unidentified group. The group could not set fire on more equipment after police from Majhimtar-based post and Armed Police Force personnel from their base in Adamghat reached the site. “Locals told us that the group had fired into the air after setting fire on the equipment,” Police Inspector Dasu Giri said. The Jogimara-based quarry has been supplying stones to the Reliance Cement in Bhairahawa, Shivam Cement in Hetauda and Unitech Cement in Simara. The quarry, which supplies an average of 70 trucks of stones a day, pays more than Rs8 million in taxes to the DDC Dhading.