A crude bomb has exploded in Nepal's capital hours after polls opened for national elections, injuring three people and raising fears that left-wing extremists will disrupt the vote, police say.
"A bomb exploded at 10am today in Bhotebahal neighbourhood in Kathmandu. Three people including a child have been injured," police spokesman Ganesh K.C. said on Tuesday.
The incident, which comes after a series of similar attacks by anti-poll protesters in recent days, occurred when an eight-year-old boy picked up the bomb apparently thinking it was a toy, another police official said.
"Eight-year-old Samir Khadgi grabbed the bomb assuming it to be a toy on a road in Bhotebahal," Kathmandu-based police official Hemant Pal said.
"He has injuries on his hand and face.".
Two others suffered minor injuries.
Demonstrators from a hardline faction of the Maoist party, which won elections in 2008, have escalated efforts to disrupt the vote in recent days, torching vehicles and hurling explosives at traffic.
The protesters say elections cannot be held under an interim administration set up after the collapse of Nepal's first constituent assembly, and want polls to be postponed until a cross-party government is put in place.
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