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Kathmandu Monday February 05, 2001 Magh 23, 2057.
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Attack on CJ condemned
One more dead body of
policeman found
Post Report
SURKHET, Feb 4 - Policemen and officials
taking stock of the situation here today a day after the fatal attack by suspected Maoist
rebels, found one more body of a dead policeman. With this, the death toll has climbed to
six.
A team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police
(DSP) Ghanashyam Bhatta found the dead body of Constable Ganga Bahadur Dangi, of Dang
district, in a field near Chhaisatthi, which lies 20 kilometers east of here. Suspected
Maoist rebels ambushed a group of officials including the Chief Justice there late in the
afternoon Saturday.
"Two pressure cooker bombs exploded five
meters ahead of the vehicle we were in, and there was complete confusion for ten
minutes," DSP Bhatta told The Kathmandu Post Sunday. "When we tried to fire,
there was firing and socket bombs hurled from all sides."
According to the police, thereafter the rebels
seized four 3-0-3 rifles and other ammunitions left by the dead and injured policemen from
the site. While the two pressure cooker bombs went off, the pipe bombs did not fully
explode.
Four policemen escorting the Chief Justice and
other judges, and the Registrar of Surkhet Appellate Court died instantly after the
suspected rebels opened fire and hurled bombs at the officials who were travelling along
the narrow highway yesterday.
The attack came only three days after Deputy
Prime Minister and Home Minister Ram Chandra Poudel visited Kalikot, Jajarkot and Surkhet,
the three districts worst-hit by the five year old "People’s War" launched
by the underground CPN (Maoist).
Meanwhile, according to Dang-based reporter,
the body of Registrar of the Surkhet Appellate Court, Bal Dev Dhital was cremated today
along the banks of the Babai river near his residence in Thikpur village, Dang.
Chief justice of the Supreme Court Keshav
Prasad Upadhyay who had been to Dhital’s residence to pay condolence to the bereaved
family said that he was too stunned by the incident to utter any words.
Upadhyaya later left for Butwal. The two-day
programme scheduled for Saturday and Sunday in Surkhet, which Upadhyay was expected to
attend has been postponed.
Various human rights organizations, political
parties and lawyers associations have condemned the attack.
In a press release issued today, the ruling
Nepali Congress has called upon the civil society to "defeat acts of terrorism
without deviating from the democratic norms."
"The attack is a barbarous act,"
said Human Rights and Peace Society in its press release.
Nepal Bar Association has demanded the
government to improve the law and order situation and to ensure safety to all the
citizens.
"The incident shows that the safety
arrangement was not good enough during the trip of the Chief Justice," said the press
release of NBA.
Chief Justice Upadhyay had narrowly escaped
the fatal attack at Chhaisatthi, some 20 kilometers east of Birendranagar, the district
headquarters of Surkhet.
Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), Nepal
Democratic Law Professionals Association and Appeal Court Bar Association have also
condemned the attack.
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