KATHMANDU, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and around dozen others injured when a bomb went off at the Church of Assumption in Lalitpur, south of Nepali capital Kathmandu on Saturday morning, the police said.
The bomb went off at the church located at Dhobighat in Lalitpur, a city in the Kathmandu Valley bordering Kathmandu city across the Bagmati River, at 9:15 a.m. local time (GMT 0330) on Saturday local time.
The bomb went off when the church's weekly function was going on, leaving two dead. There were about 150 people in the church when the bomb went off.
The dead have been identified as Alestina Joseph, 15-year-old student and an Indian national, and Pabitra Paitra, a 30-year-old housewife. Both died while being taken to Patan Hospital for treatment.
According to the police, the injured have already been sent to local hospitals for treatment.
Although there are no evidences it is believed that the suspects are among the attendants of the function. Since pamphlets of Nepal Defense Army (NDA) are found around the church premises, NDA's involvement is also suspected. The police are investigating into the other details.
Also, the church staff said the so-called Nepal Defense Army, has left some pamphlets, taking responsibility for the blast. They said it is the same group that had in last year murdered a priest, John Prakash in Dharan, some 220 km east of Nepali capital Kathmandu.
Nepal Defense Army, which claimed to have planted bombs in Kathmandu and other cities in the country, came to the public's notice since 2007.
In September 2007, Nepali police arrested Ram Prasad Mainali of NDA, and once claimed that Mainali was the lone person in the NDA, so it would no more be in existence.
While the police were investigation the blast scene, they got calls about another bomb blast at a nearby church. The police rushed to the spot, only to discover that it was a hoax.
Father Bogati, chief of the Assumption Church condemned the incident. Damodar Gautam of World Hindu Federation also condemned the blast saying attacks on religious shrines were unfortunate, according to local reports.
Police reports state that a bomb blast in a church in Nepal on Saturday has killed two people and injured at least a dozen more. The attack comes just hours before the national parliament was due to elect a new prime minister.

The bomb detonated in the Church of the Assumption in the town of Lalitpur, located south of Nepal's capital of Kathmandu. The explosion occurred during the church's weekly function. Around 150 people were in the church at the time of the explosion.

"The wounded people have been rushed to a local hospital and we are investigating," police superintendent Kedarman Singh Bhandari said.

"A 15-year old student, Celestina Joseph, and 30-year-old Pabitra Paitri died in the bomb blast. Five of the injured are in serious condition," Ram Brish Chaudhary said to the Agence France Presse news agency. "Security has been increased and an investigation is going on."

According to the Nepalese home ministry spokesman, Navin Ghimire, the National Defence Army, an obscure Hindu extremist group, left a message at the scene of the disaster, assuming responsibility for the explosion. The group says it wants to return Nepal's Hindu monarchy back to power after it was abolished last year. It has taken responsibility for the killing of a missionary in July of last year.

This is the first bomb attack on a Christian church in Nepal. The country's population is predominantly either Buddhist or Hindu.