In the capital's New Baneswor chok, some anti-social elements targeted madhesi entrepreneurs and looted their shops. According to UML Dhanusha leader Chandrahdev Rawat at around 5:30 in the evening, a group of robbers in the hundreds, looted and mercilessly beat madhesis. Rawat, who claims to be an eye-witness, said the group has been active for some time and that it has been targeting madhesi community. Pro-palace forces are trying disrupt the polls by stoking communal fires, Rawat said, adding that if madhesis are mistreated in Kathmandu, there could be reprisals in tarai. The leaders and activists of The Chure Bhabar Ekata Samaj who are in the capital, are believed to behind such incidents.