Streets in the Kathmandu Valley -- comprising capital Kathmandu, twin-city Lalitpur and nearby Bhaktapur -- bore a deserted look as people fearing violence chose to stay home. The only movement was that of sporadic vehicles carrying royal Nepal army personnel in battle-gear and armed riot police speeding past.

Commercial establishments remained closed and government offices reported thin attendance in Kathmandu. Public transport, including hire taxis and autorickshaws, did not ply during the day.

Today's bandh was called by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) to protest the ``continued neglect'' of their demands by successive governments in the Himalayan Hindu kingdom. Their demands range from the scrapping of an Indo-Nepal treaty for joint exploitation of water resources to the establishment of a republican state inNepal.

Besides, their 40-point charter of demands includes controlling inflation, corruption, black-marketeering, smuggling and the rampant commission raj.

The Maoists also demand an end to feudal practices and call for the distribution of land to the landless and the poor after taking it away from the rich and landed class.

The Maoists have been waging an armed struggle in various outlying areas of the country since the past two years which they term as a ``peoples war'' to press for their demands. At least 135 persons have been killed in the related violence with the victims including police personnel, civilian population, Maoists and other political cadres.

Lately, the business community here has been receiving threats from the Maoists to pay ``donations'' or face violence. The prosperous Marwari community, it is learnt, has even been told to ``pack up and leave'' besides paying huge ransoms. It could not be ascertained reliably as to how many had succumbed to the extortion demands.