Pashupati Nagar, April 9: The attack on select establishments owned by Nepal nationals of Indian origin has left the community, already on the backfoot, scurrying for cover.

The attack comes in the wake of the arrest of top Maoist leader Mohan Baidya by Darjeeling police last week along with a treasurer of the Nepalese National Democratic Front of India, an association now under intelligence scanner.

Shops owned by Sangeeta Singhal, Shyam Agrawal, Asok Agrawal and Harikash Agrawal were ransacked during Wednesday’s offensive, the first on this town 36 km from Darjeeling. Earlier, the Maoists had desisted from attacks on civilians.

Sangeeta said: “My husband and father-in-law had left for Siliguri and I was with my 12-year-old son Ashish during the raid. We didn’t expect them to target my shop, but they did.”