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Kathmandu Sunday November 04, 2001 Kartik 19, 2058.
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Maoists kill 1 UML worker,
injure several others
By Om Prakash Sharma
SYANGJA, Nov 3 – At a time when main
opposition CPN-UML leadership is coming down heavily against the Maoists, one UML worker
was killed when a group of armed Maoist rebels carried out a deadly attack in Chapakot
village in the Syangja district Friday evening.
Gupta Bahadur Bishwokarma, acting Secretary of
the Area Committee of the CPN-UML, was killed in the attack. Bishwokarma is also the
science teacher in the local Ganga Lal Higher Secondary School.
Locals said the Maoists carried out the attack
mainly because the locals – both UML and ruling Nepali Congress (NC) workers –
forged groups to counter Maoists and that was hindering the organisational development of
the Maoists. Earlier, the rebels numbering almost 500 had entered into Chapakot from
Gajarkot village of Tanahun district.
According to eyewitnesses, the Maoist rebels,
after carrying out the attack, took away three injured NC workers – Ram Chandra
Pangeni and Padma Prasad Pangeni of Kuwakot-3, and Netra Prasad Bhandari of Chapakot-6
– along with them.
Those severely injured in the incident –
Shankar Bhakta Bhandari of Chapakot-4 (UML), Narayan Bahadur Thapa of Chapakot-2 (NC)
– were found in the incident site (Chapakot, Suntalitar) Saturday morning. Their
hands and legs were broken and they were airlifted to Pokhara for treatment in the
Saturday evening.
The police have given direction to send the dead
body of Bishwokarma to the district headquarters for post-mortem and three reinforcement
forces have been dispatched towards the incident site from Waling, Galyang (both in
Syangja) and Palpa district, said police chief of Syangja, Sarbendra Khanal.
Locals believe that the Maoists could have
attacked the Chapakot villagers, who had openly come to counter the Maoists as
retaliation, because the villagers on Tuesday had attacked two Maoist workers – Hari
Prasad Khanal and M. S. Gaire.
Both Khanal and Gaire were severely injured in
the earlier incident and the former is currently undergoing treatment in Manipal Teaching
Hospital, while the condition of Gaire is still unknown.
According to a locally-elected leader of
Chapakot village, some UML and NC workers, fearing the Maoist attacks, have already fled
to the district headquarters, Waling, Galyang, Palpa and Terai.
Meanwhile, even six days after the abduction of
Mukti Prasad Subedi, teacher of Purnamrit Bhawani Higher Secondary School, his condition
is still unknown. The Maoists had abducted him on October 29.
Now the locals in the village have been
demanding with the government to deploy army there.
Meanwhile, the Standing Committee of the UML
today strongly condemned the Maoists for killing Bishwokarma.
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