Kathmandu, Nov 29 (PTI): At least 40 people were arrested in Nepal for trying to enforce a strike called by a breakaway CPN-Maoist party faction against “India's blockade” of major border trading points with the landlocked country.

The strike called by the hardline CPN-Maoist (Biplav), a breakaway faction of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist, had little effect in capital Kathmandu, though normal life was affected in other parts of the country.

Some shops in Kathmandu remained shut but most vehicles plied on roads in the capital.

Five Maoist cadres were arrested in Kanchanpur district of far-west Nepal for vandalising a jeep with an Indian number plate.

”Our strike is against India's blockade and its intervention in Nepal's internal affairs,” the party said in a statement.

But Nepalis criticised the strike, expressing their frustration over the 'bandh' at a time when people are already strained by fuel shortage, medicines and other essential goods because of the agitation by the Madhesi people, who share strong cultural and family bonds with North Indians.

The Madhesi agitation, over demands to safeguard their interests and more representation in the new Constituion, near the border trade points has been on for more than two months now. Relations between India and Nepal have nosedived over the issue.