Maoists kill one, close VDCs

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KATHMANDU, June 17 - Maoists have intensified their actitviites in the eastern districts of Jhapa and Morang by killing one and breaking limbs of one in Morang and by closing several VDCs.

A group of 50 to 60 masked men, claiming themselves to be Maoists, killed Lahare Chan Biswas of Siswani Gadari Village Development Committee, 10 kilometres north from Biratnagar. Before killing, the insurgents broke his hands and legs with an axe-head.

The same group also broke limbs of Danguwa VDC Chairman Ashok Rijal, teacher of Saraswati School Yubraj Choudhari and Shambhu Chaudhary Biswas, a local.

According to District Police Office Morang, the insurgents attacked Lahare Chan and Shambhu, while he was watching TV. The victims said that they were accused of theft and rape attempts.

"They demanded arms from Rijal and broke limbs. And they accused Yubraj of beating children and wife, " they said.

Similarly, an unidentified group of people stroke two shops of Biratnagar with petrol bombs on Sunday afternoon. But the attack did not cause any serious damage.

The locals said that the bombs hit Goyal Hardware Store and Pepsi dealer at 3.00 p.m., just 100 and 200 metres away from the District Police Office ( DPO) Morang.

DPO Morang said that the bombing did not cause any serious damage to the business firms. "It might be a firecracker or Maoist insurgency," police officials said.

Meanwhile, the Maoists set fire in a deserted police station of Topgachhi and Gairigaun VDC of Jhapa on Saturday night.

They earlier closed down 11 VDCs of two constituencies of Jhapa, causing the local authorities to stay idle.

The Maoist insurgents closed 8 VDCs of constituency no. 6, except Damak Municipality and three VDCs of constituency no. 5 on Thursday and Friday last week.

Gauradaha, Maharani Jhoda, Lakhanpur, Juropani, Kohwara, Keorbari, Gauriganj and Khajurgachhi, Dharampur, Topgachhi and Gauradha were the affected VDCs.

The VDC officials said that around half a dozen activists closed the offices with ordinary padlocks they had brought with them.

"They also pasted posters with slogans against the present King and asking the people to support republic system," the officials said.

The chairman of Gauradaha VDC Deepak Karki said that the people had to bear lots of problem due to this closure. "The possibility of reopening is scanty until the concerned authority gives guarantee of security," he added.

A dispatch from Phidim states that around 20 Maoist activists held a rally against monarchy in the market area Saturday evening.

The local administration office said that necessary investigation is being carried out on this event.

Locals lament leopard menace in Tehrathum

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TEHRATHUM, June 17 - Leopard have exasperated the people in Myanglung,headquarters of Tehrathum district and many VDCs in its vicinity including Tamphula by killing their domestic animals.

"It is impossible to fence the leopards and is illegal to kill them. They have destroyed our livestock. There is no one who can listen to our problem," the farmers who keep domestic animals say.

Leopard killed six goats belonging to Tulsi Bahadur Bhandari of Myanglung-5 at about 3 p.m. on Thursday, according to farmers. They added that they also killed pigs from the sty of Karna Bahadur Tumbahamphe, Laxmi Prasad Shrestha of Myanglung Uranthe and Man Bahadur Rasaili of Myanglung-6.

Januka Guragain of Tamphula-3 said her pregnant cow was eaten by the leopard about a week ago depriving her from feeding milk to her children.

Tigers killed all the pigs from the sty of Bishnu Maya Tumbahamphe, Chakra Bahadur Tumbahamphe and Devi Maya Khawas recently. They also killed six goats from the house of Maiya Katuwal and four goats from the house of Kalpana Niroula, both of Piple VDC-6. Farmers are complaining that their sources of income have been destroyed.

Similarly, farmers from different other VDCs including Simle, Jaljale, Thoklung, Chuhandada, Okhre and Panchakanya have also complained that leopards have destroyed their cows, goats and pigs.

Farmers who were enraged when all their livestock were destroyed within a short time told The Kathmandu Post, "If the government wants to conserve the leopard, it must pay us compensation. Either the leopards should be controlled or we should be allowed to kill them."

Asked about the situation, the District Forest Officer Shyam Kumar Chaudhari said the number of leopards had increased in recent times and were posing threat to the domestic animals due to the proper conservation of community forest.

He, however, added that no one was allowed to kill leopards despite the fact that leopards were killing the domestic animals of farmers in different villages.

ANWA activists' release ordered

POKHARA, June 17 (PR) - The Appellate Court, Pokhara has issued an order of haebus corpus to release Asha Khanal, central member of All Nepal Women’s Association (ANWA), a sister organization of underground CPN-Maoist.

Policemen from District Administration Office, Tanahun had re-arrested Khanal shortly after she came out from jail after completing a jail term two years on May 16. She was re-arrested on charges of posting "anti-government" posters and pamphlets.

A division bench comprising justices Ram Prasad Shrestha and Gopal Parajuli had issued the order.

Security beefed up in Indian side of border

By Lokendra Bista

PITHAURAGARH, June 17- The Uttaranchal government of India has been seriously concerned over the rising incidents of Maoist activities along the Indo-Nepal border and has therefore beefed up its security mechanism to thwart harms .

The Indian State government was particularly cautious after a group of Maoists kidnapped three officials belonging to the Dhauliganga Hydro-power Project at Dharchula, India, which is presently under construction.

The Maoists released the abducted Indian officials four days later on Friday last week. According to a source close to senior Indian police officers, the Maoists made the move after a rumour that three Nepali youths had been sacrificed for the successful completion of the hydropower project. Project Chief, S.K.Agrawal, however, refused to make a comment.

The Indian security agencies suspect that the Maoists use the check-points in the Pithauragarh to smuggle arms from the Indian soil.They believe that the Maoists are smuggling arms to the districts of Dolpa, Dailekh and Kalikot via Darchula and Bajhang. The increasing Maoist activities at western Darchula have fueled the Indian suspicions.They claim that the Maoists are strengthening their base in Darchula as a safe transit.

One instance of the State government’s alacrity to the situation can be seen in the Chief Minister Nityananda Swamy’s direction to the police chief, BPK Prasad, to shift the head office of the Indo-Nepal border police post from the Rudrapur to Pithauragarh.

Consequently, the Indian police has tightened security at the major bridges and check points along the 192-km border between the two countries.The State government has also made it compulsory for the Nepalese nationals to obtain permisssion to cross the Garjyakhola near Joljibi along the road between Pithauragarh and Darchula.

Therefore, any Nepalese national can now hoping to travel to Darchula via the Indian territory has to bear an Indian pass which is provided on submission of a letter with the recommendation of one of the four District Development Committees in the Mahakali zone.

Such a provision on the part of the Indian government seems to be a direct violation of the Indo-Nepal Treaty of 1950 which allows the people at both sides of the border to move freely into one another’s country.

Police detains 10 in Dharan

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DHARAN, June 17 - Following the arrest of more than 15 people after the Maoist insurgents bombed Ilaka Police Office here last night, police have detained only 10 people and released others at night.

They have, however, not disclosed the names of all the people detained. Police have said the detainees are from different districts. Some of the people arrested by police were those who were staying at the houses and hotels next to the police office and their owners.

The bomb attack by the Maoists on the Ilaka Police Office at the busy market place in the middle of Dharan and the police beat at Bhanu Chowk has terrorised the local people. This is the first incident in which Maoists have attacked the police office located at the bazaar area and considered difficult for such attack.

The bomb was thrown from behind the office. It was guessed that the police communication section and barrack were made the targets but the bomb has not damaged the office building. Two police personnel, Pahal Man Rai and Dhruba Shrestha, who came out to see after hearing the sound were injured and are undergoing treatment in B.P.Koirala Health Science Academy.

According to police only one socket bomb was used. In response, police fired 14 rounds but no one was hit. No one has reported injury by police firing, according to Police Inspector Narendra Upreti.

Locals offer floral tributes

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DEVGHAT (Nuwakot), June 17 - All the people of this district assembled here to pay last respect to their beloved King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya and other members of the royal family wept bitterly when they consigned the flower garlands and bouquets, which were offered to them by district people to express their love and respect on the 13th day, to the Devghat Tribeni (the confluence of three rivers) on Sunday morning.

A resident of Jiling, Krishna Prasad Pudasaini, 76, who had arrived to take part in the flower consigning ceremony, said he was beside himself with grief at the loss of the king and queen "who were venerated as God and were dearer to us than our lives".

Although the sad demise of the king and queen was a fact he said his mind was not prepared to accept that it was true.

Hari Bahadur Shrestha of Dui Piple VDC said he was stunned to hear the news of the death of the king and queen and members of the royal family and had come to pray to God for eternal peace to their departed souls.

Devighat is the place where King Prithvi Narayan Shah the Great had passed away in 1831 BS, that is 227 years ago. There is also a statue of the great king which was built right after his death. With tears in their eyes, all the people assembled, including the young and the old and also students, consigned the flowers offered to the king and queen and royal family members at the confluence of the river from three sides.

Chief District Officer Mod Raj Dotel said the flowers offered on the 13th day in the district were collected and consigned to the river praying for eternal peace to their souls, at the religious site of Devighat, which is also the site of the passing away of late King Prithvi Narayan Shah who unified the city states and created modern Nepal.