In a major crackdown to thwart opposition to February elections, Nepal arrested scores of activists, cut cell phone services, and placed under house arrest senior leaders. The European Union, India, and Japan have expressed concern over these moves. King Gnanendra dismissed an elected Government accusing it of ineffective handling of a Maoist terrorist uprising. He has called for district level elections in February which some activists call a "sham." The Government requested activists not to protest in certain sensitive areas in Katmandu as that can provide a cover for terrorist infiltration. Activists have spurned the requests and defied the ban thus sparking these retaliatory moves by the Government. The Government had claimed that it had broken the back of the Maoist movement but terrorism frequently appears in many places belying that claim.