Security personnel and cadres of the Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) exchanged fire at Hongla village of the remote Silichong Rural Municipality in Sankhuwasabha on Monday. There were no casualties in the crossfire, police said.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Mim Bahadur Lama, the CPN activists opened fire at a joint patrol team of Nepal Police and Armed Police Force at around 9am. “The CPN activists suddenly fired at the security patrol as the latter reached Hongla. The armed men fled after police fired in retaliation,” said DSP Lama.

The site is about a 10-hour walk from Khandbari, the district headquarters of Sankhuwasabha.

Security has been heightened in the area after the incident. Three Nepal Army helicopters arrived from Kathmandu and Biratnagar and patrolled the area while a huge number of personnel from Nepal Police and the Armed Police have been deployed there.

The local administration had increased patrol in Hongla following complaints from local residents about the activists of the outfit carrying out criminal activities in the area.

The NCP cadres attacked the security force soon after their patrol reached Hongla. There were 19 police personnel, according to Nepal Police.

According to locals, a group of around 25 CPN activists had reached Hongla through Budhabare on Wednesday.

The District Police Office said a search for the absconding assailants is ongoing. The action is quite difficult as the area has a thick forest cover. The site lies near the borders of Solukhumbu, Bhojpur, Khotang and Sankhuwasabha