 |
Kathmandu Sunday July 01, 2001 Ashadh 17, 2058.
|
Maoists escalate violence, kill 5 policemen
in Tanahun
By Kulchandra Neupane
DAMAULI, Tanahun, June 30 - Underground Maoist rebels on
Friday evening shot dead five police personnel, including a Sub-Inspector, and looted all
weapons before bombing the police outpost at Tekre village in remote Arunodaya VDC-5.
The remote outpost is located about 10 kilometres south of an
area police station in Bhimad, a rural hub which lies about three hours walking distance
away from Khaireni along the Prithivi Highway that links Kathmandu with Pokhara. The
attack was sudden and came at around 7:30 p.m. Friday evening, police said.
Those killed in the incident have been identified as
Sub-Inspector Surendra Singh from Itarwa Kati VDC-4 in Mahottari; and constables Ameshwor
Ray from Mahodaiya VDC-4, Mahottari, Padma Narayan Mahato from Kuluwa VDC-2, Nawalparasi,
Devendra Koirala, from Kathmandu Metropolis-15, Swayambhu, and Keshav Neupane from Bichaur
VDC-5, Lamjung.
Eyewitnesses said that around 200 armed made a sudden raid at
the police post and began firing indiscriminately. The two sides exchanged fire for almost
two hours. The policemen surrendered after their colleagues began falling, and they ran
out of ammunition.
Thereafter the rebels tied all the policemen - with their
hands on the back - and then tallied their names and addresses with the "black
list" they were carrying. A survivor said that they surrendered shortly after their
in-charge, Sub-Inspector Singh, fell onto the ground after being hit.
According to a source at the Police Headquarters in
Kathmandu, the rebels killed constable Neupane by leaving him tied inside the police
outpost before bombing the station, accusing his father of acting as an informer in
neighboring Lamjung district.
Meanwhile, all the 25 policemen who surrendered with the
rebels have been interrogated separately, the police source added.
Bodies of all the dead policemen were airlifted to Pokhara
before they were handed over to their relatives to carry out last rites.
Another police constable, Jagat Bahadur Thapa, who sustained
injuries on his limb, has been airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment.
Police constables, Lekhnath Subedi and Narayan Datta Dhakal,
who survived the fierce battle, said that the rebels looted 13 three-knot-three rifles,
four shot-guns, three revolvers, four plastic grenades, one communication set. The rebels
set police uniform on fire after bombing the post, they said.
Locals said the rebels also destroyed four buildings owned by
the Agriculture Sub-Centre, located about 50 metres away from the post.
After inspecting the battle site this morning, Deputy
Superintendent of Police told The Kathmandu Post that the rebels took advantage of the
"strategically weak location" of the police outpost.
Earlier on May 25, the rebels had looted all arms from the
Bhirkot-based police post, in the same area. During the raid, however, the rebels had
spared the policemen as there was no resistance from the police side.
A total of 10 policemen, three Nepali Congress cadre and one
Maoist rebel have been killed in this hilly district alone since the Maoists waged armed
struggle six years ago. More than 1,700 people, including civilian, police and rebels,
have lost their lives throughout the country over the period.
Meanwhile, reports from the Terai said the Royal Nepal Army
personnel today defused two bombs that were hung on a banner by the Maoists at two
sensitive city areas of Butwal municipality.
The military squad from Kathmandu, led by Captain Tek Bahadur
Chand, defused the "ordinary bombs" hung under the banners in BP Path Gateway
and Lumbini Hospital.
Anti-Public Security Regulations slogans along with a call
for a republic were inscribed on the banners. Small warning notices were also pasted next
to the banners indicating that the packets contained dangerous explosives.
Our correspondent from Dang, meawhile, added that a Maoist
cadre in the far-eastern district lost his life while trying to repair one of his own
grenades.
"Parsha Bahadur Gharti, alias Comrade Peepal, was
injured while attempting to open a grenade he was in possession of," a rebel, Comrade
Sijal, told the correspondent. Gharti was working as a communication staff for the
underground party.
Other Stories
|
