Nepali Congress (NC) Mahasamiti member Min Krishna Maharjan and his friend Milan Silwal were injured in a gang attack at Dhapakhel in Lalitpur on Saturday morning.

Police said, the duo was shot at and attacked with swords by a group of seven men at around 7:40 am. Maharjan, who is also the former treasurer of National Sports Council, sustained injuries in his right hand, in the incident.

Police said Sanjaya Baniya, who is said to be an aide of notorious gangster Sujan Poudel aka Ramesh Bahun, was arrested as a suspect.

It is learnt that Bahun was in need of Rs 1million and had sought help of one of his friends, who had then approached Maharjan for loan.  Maharjan had allegedly denied the loan saying that it would be difficult to collect the money back from Bahun.

A member of CPN-UML, Bahun is said to be involved in extortion and other illegal activities after he deserted the Nepal Army in 2006. Police suspect that he had assigned his men to attack Maharjan.