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Govt to provide Rs 1 million to Birendra Shah’s family; slain civil servant declared a martyr

The government has decided to provide Rs 1 million, as relief assistance, to the family of journalist Birendra Shah, who was murdered in Bara by Maoist cadres after abduction.

A cabinet meeting held at the PMO Wednesday afternoon took the decision to this effect.

The government announcement came after relentless pressure from various media groups including the Federation of Nepalese Journalists and Press Chautari Nepal.

The dead body of Shah, who was murdered on the day of his abduction five weeks earlier, was recovered on November 8.

In another decision, the cabinet meeting decided to intensify search for journalist Prakash Thakuri of Kanchanpur, whose whereabouts remain unknown since his abduction four months ago. The cabinet also approved Rs 2 lakh relief aid to Thakuri’s family.

Family members have been claming that Prakash was kidnapped by Maoist cadres, but the Maoist party has denied the involvement of its cadres in the kidnapping.

Meanwhile, today’s cabinet meeting declared Prabhu Narayan Shah, an official with Saptari District Development Committee who was murdered by unidentified gang three weeks earlier, as a martyr.

After Yadav's murder, civil servants based in Saptari had resigned in masse citing security threats, but had withdrawn the resignations after the Home Ministry assured to take measures to ensure their security. The civil servants had also demanded that the state declare Yadav a martyr. nepalnews.com mk Nov 14 07