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| Kathmandu Saturday April 13, 2002 Chaitra 31, 2058. |
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50 killed in deadly Maoist
raids in Dang
By Sudarshan Rijal & K P Ghimire
SADBARIYA, Dang, April 12 : At least 50 people,
including four civilians, were killed Thursday night in the mid-western district of Dang
when Maoist rebels launched simultaneous raids on an Armed Police Force (APF) base in
Sadbariya, an area police office in Lamahi and Bhalubang. Security sources suspect that
around 50 rebels were killed in the clashes.
The APF base camp in Sadbariya and the police
post in Lamahi are located along the busy East-West Highway and about 25 and 30-km south
of Ghorahi, the district headquarters of Dang.
After inspecting the clash sites, AIG
(Additional Inspector General of Police of the APF), Sahabir Thapa, told reporters that 37
personnel of the APF, including Deputy Superintendent of Police Dhan Bahadur Basnet and
three Police Inspectors were killed in the Sadbariya raid. There were 120 police personnel
in Sadbariya.
AIG Thapa said that 29 personnel sustained
serious injuries while eight others were still missing after a fierce battle that lasted
about five hours. Forty-six other APF personnel sustained minor injuries in Sadbariya base
camp.
Four civilians travelling in night buses from
Kathmandu were also killed in the crossfire in Bhalubang, about 25-km east of Lamahi. The
civilians killed in the crossfire have been identified as driver of the night bus (Se 2 A
1334) Mahendra Shrestha of Syangja and Kusendra Kharel of Bardiya, a passenger travelling
in another bus (9655). Two others are yet to be identified. Our reporter in Butwal said
that four other passengers were also injured in the crossfire and they were rushed to
Zonal Hospital in Butwal for treatment.
AIG Thapa said the rebels made off with 96
Self-Loading Rifles and Light Machine Guns from the base camp. Six 303 rifles and one
Chinese-made pistol left behind by the rebels were recovered today from the site.
In yet another audacious attack, the Maoist
guerrillas killed nine police personnel including Police Inspector Padam Adhikari in
Lamahi-based area police outpost. Thirteen other policemen were injured in the gunfight.
Chief District Officer of Dang Mathur Prasad Yadav said that the rebels looted most of the
arms from the outpost.
All the injured police personnel were rushed to
Nepalgunj and Kathmandu for treatment. The rebels also ransacked Rs 1.6 million in cash
and other valuables from two branch offices of Agriculture Development Bank and Rastriya
Banijya Bank in Lamahi. They also set the office on fire, said Sobharam KC, Officiating
Manager of Rastriya Banijya Bank.
The rebels had earlier blocked the busy highway
and a link road to Ghorahi by felling big trees and laying landmines at several places to
prevent the government reinforcements from reaching the battle sites.
Locals said that the rebels had also exchanged
fire with security personnel in Ghorahi, Tulsipur Municipality and Bhalubang to divert the
attention of the security forces from Lamahi and Sadbariya.
The surviving policemen said that the rebels
retreated for a while after a helicopter equipped with nigh vision sights flew in the area
and began aerial offensives. But soon after the chopper disappeared, the rebels caused
heavy casualties on the security side, said the victims. Communication between the
Sadbariya base camp and the police post in Lamahi was disconnected within half an hour of
the clashes. The survivors said that the rebels had also used long-range weapons while
attacking the Sadbariya base camp.
Rescue teams of the security forces could reach
the battle sites only on Friday morning as it took hours for them to clear the highways
blocked by the rebels.
Though the highway was opened for vehicular
movement from Friday morning, Lamahi bazaar remained closed throughout the day due to the
nightmare. The rebels had also attacked a sub-station of the national power grid resulting
in disruption of power supply to the mid-and far-west Nepal.
Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry confirmed 46
security personnel dead in Sadbariya and Lamahi incidents. The Ministry said that the
security forces have encircled the area to hunt down the Maoist "terrorists."
In a press statement issued today by the
Ministry, a meeting of the Defence Council held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister
Sher Bahadur Deuba took stock of security situation. PM Deuba gave instruction to the
security officials to immediately improve security arrangements by learning lesson from
last night’s Maoist attacks.
The Ministry also added that eight Maoists were
gunned down in Palpa, Humla, Kathmandu and Ramechhap district on Thursday.
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