At least two Nepali migrant workers were critically injured when an armed gang of Malaysian youth reportedly attacked them at Pasir Gudang, an industrial town 35 km from Johor Bahru, the capital city of Johor in southern Malaysia. 

Malaysian police have arrested nine Nepali workers involved in the clash. Chakra Subedi, an official at the Embassy of Nepal in Malaysia, told this daily that Rajiv Biswokarma of Samari, Nuwakot, has his leg and hand fractured while Ram Lal Shrestha of Chandranigahapur, Rautahat, has received a deep cut on his forehead with injuries on his leg. They were reportedly attacked by sharp weapons. 

Aman Gupta, Santosh Poudel, Manoj Sunar, Ramesh Bahadur Bhujel, Rakam Rai, Nil Kantha Jaisi, Rakesh Yadav, Dal Bahadur Bambo and Pawan Sah have been arrested on charge of hooliganism. The incident took place yesterday evening after a dispute arose among Nepali migrant workers, said a source, adding that a group then left the scene but came back with a Malaysian armed gang to attack the others.

 
Earlier in the day reports were rife that many Nepali migrant workers were killed, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs later denied the reports and issued a statement saying ‘a sad incident involving some Nepali nationals working in Malaysia has taken place’ but stopped short of telling the number of injured persons. Charge d’affaires Lekhanath Adhikari met Malaysian authorities this afternoon and urged them to ensure the safety and security of Nepali nationals working in Malaysia. MoFA had in the afternoon summoned officials from the Embassy of Malaysia in Kathmandu to understand the situation.

Published on: 26 March 2013 | The Himalayan Times