Rights organisations point at Maoist hand behind Thakuri's disappearance
A common network of human rights organisations has concluded that Maoists are responsible for the disappearance of journalist Prakash Singh Thakuri.
A team of rights organisations including representatives from INHURED, INSEC, IHRICON and Advocacy Forum had initiated the probe in response to request made by Janaki Thakuri, the wife of the journalist who has been missing since July 5 from Kanchanpur in the far west Nepal.
The report by the team has concluded that there are adequate proofs and evidences to point at Maoist hand behind the disappearance.
Earlier, the police had arrested a local Maoist leader Pom Lal Sharma for his alleged involvement in the abduction of Thakuri. But he was later released after he told police that he had only shown the house of Thakuri to some YCL cadres.
The report by rights organisations has urged the authorities to initiate detailed investigation. Even though Maoists have said Sharma is not associated with their party, the report says that he is still working as a Maoist member at the Mahendranagar City Development Committee.
Four days after he was abducted, a hitherto unknown outfit calling itself National Republican Army had issued a statement owning up the abduction and claiming that Thakuri has already been killed because he was a 'royalist.' But the police have said that no such organisation is in existence.
On the other hand, the government as well as the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) have also formed teams to probe Thakuri's whereabouts. nepalnews.com sd Nov 18 07
