An improvised device went off in front of the house of Shobhakanta Dhakal, whose name has appeared as a key person in Baluwatar land grab scandal, in Sano Bharyang on Wednesday evening.

Police confirmed that there was a blast but said there was no human casualty. "Security personnel reached the site immediately after the blast was reported at around 7:30 pm," said Deputy Superintendent Hobindra Bogati, spokesperson for the Kathmandu Metropolitan Police Range. "There were no casualties. A car has suffered some damage."

The Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal has owned up to the blast.

This is the first incident of a blast this year. Last year in February, a blast in Nakkhu had killed one person and injured another.

The Chand-led party, which carried out another blast a month later in Basundhara, had owned up to the deadly blast that occurred in front of Ncell headquarters.

"Further investigation is under way," said Bogati.

A committee led by Sharada Prasad Trital had identified Dhakal as "land mafia" who had illegally grabbed land in Baluwatar. General Secretary of the ruling Nepal Communist Party Bishnu Poudel was dragged into controversy for buying a plot in the unlawfully seized land.