Maoist report says journalist Shah was murdered on the day of his abduction 
A report prepared by the CPN-Maoist on the kidnapping of Bara-based journalist Birendra Shah has revealed that Shah was murdered by his captors on the same day he was kidnapped.
The report made public in a news conference organised at the CPN-M central office in Buddhanagar Monday evening stated that Shah was shot and killed by the captors in the evening of Oct 05 at a jungle near Sapahi, Bara district.
According to the report, Shah and his colleague Ramdev Das were kidnapped from Pipara in Bara by Maoist cadres Kundan Faujdar and Ram Ekwal Sahani and were presented before Lal Babadur Chaudhary, a Maoist area in-charge in Bara.
While on the way, the kidnappers released Das, but took Shah with them saying they wanted to discuss the timber smuggling going on in the area, out of which Shah could make a news story. Then they took him to an open ground inside the jungle and shot him dead. Ram Ekwal fired two bullets from his pistol, one in the chest and one in the temple, killing Shah on the spot.
After killing Shah, Ram Ekwal and Kundan came to Lal Bahadur to narrate the incident and then they were ordered [by Lal Bahadur] to return to the jungle and bury Shah’s dead body.
Leader of the three-member team Maoist central leader Haribhakta Kandel ‘Pratik’ said the main accused, Lal Bahadur, described these incidents via telephone but didn't come into contact with the team personally.
The report said the probe team could not trace Shah’s dead body or any other remains, but it confirmed the involvement of three local party workers in the abduction and subsequent murder of journalist Shah.
The report, however, claimed that there were no evidences to prove the involvement of another suspect, Maoist district committee member Hare Ram Patel, in the abduction case.
According to Kandel, Sahani and Faujdar had been expelled from the party some time back while Choudhary has now been relieved of all his party responsibilities. All three are at large at the moment.
Kandel claimed that the episode has to do with personal enmity between Shah and his captors and that the party would fully cooperate with law enforcement agencies in bringing the culprits to justice.
The media community, human rights groups and various political parties had been piling pressure on the government and the Maoists to find out the whereabouts of Shah.
Probe reports publicised by media groups, a parliamentary committee and the National Human Rights Commission had also confirmed the involvement of the Maoist cadres in Shah’s abduction. nepalnews.com mk Nov 05 07
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