Police arrested four persons from Mahalaxmi-8, Lubhu of Lalitpur late Wednesday for their alleged involvement in the burning of effigies of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and other political leaders. They are suspected to be members of the Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal.

Those arrested have been identified as Nikunja Sewa, 21, of Panchthar, Jeet Bahadur Khapangi, 60, of Kavre, Brijesh Dhakal alias Shrawan of Bhaktapur and Pemba Jambu Sherpa, 42, of Bhojpur—all residents of Lalitpur.

“Police officials of Lalitpur went to the incident site after receiving complaints from locals that [party] cadres had blocked the road and were burning the effigies of leaders, including PM Oli’s. When the police officials tried to stop them, they misbehaved with the police too,” said Deputy Superintendent Santosh Tamang of the Lalitpur Metropolitan Police Office. “Police took them into custody and when they were presented to the court on Friday, the Lalitpur District Court gave us the permission to keep them in custody for seven more days.”

The four persons have been held on charges of disturbing public peace. However, further investigation into the case is underway, added Tamang.

The Chand outfit is an offshoot of the Maoist party that waged a decade-long war against the state. Six years after the signing of the peace deal that brought the Maoist party to the mainstream, Chand, along with Mohan Baidya and Ram Bahadur Thapa, the incumbent home minister, had walked away in 2012. But two years later, Chand formed his own party to launch what he called a “unified revolution”, saying Nepal’s revolution was not complete.

Before masterminding the deadly blasts in the Capital in February, the Chand party had been involved in attacking some foreign-funded companies, including Ncell, a private sector mobile company.

Though the government has said it is open to talks, the Chand party has not responded, saying it wants its three pre-conditions met first—an official invitation for dialogue, the lifting of its ban and the release of its cadres.