Maoists kill 9 cops in Gorkha, 32 more rebel bodies found in Dang

Post Report

KATHMANDU, April 16:The outlawed Maoist rebels on Monday evening killed nine policemen and a civilian during their attack on the Area Police Office in the suburb Barpak Village Development Committee (VDC) of Gorkha district.

According to our reporters, Ishwori Neupane and Kulchandra Neupane, the rebels started pounding the post at about 6:30 p.m. and killed nine policemen including a Sub-Inspector and two Assistant Sub-Inspectors (ASIs).

District-based security sources have said that 18 more policemen survived the three-hour long police-Maoist gunfire after they managed to escape the police outpost. The surviving policemen were rescued by a helicopter on Tuesday afternoon. The bodies of the slain policemen were taken to Pokhara on Tuesday.

According to Bhola Prasad Silwal, Chief District Officer of Gorkha, among the deceased are ASI Om Bahadur Thapa (Kaski), ASI Krishna Bahadur Karki (Palpa), Head Constables Prem Bahadur Thapa (Nawalparasi), Durga Dutta Paneru (Dadeldhura), Constables Shumsher Bahadur Bhujel (Kaski), Sujan Budhathoki (Salyan), Ram Bahadur Mali (Parsa) and Bharat Dawadi (Achham). The SI has still not been identified.

The rebels also looted eight rifles, three pistols, one revolver and communication sets from the incident site after completely destroying the post. Due to lack of communication sets, the district headquarters received the information about the attack only on Tuesday morning. Silwal said the security forces have carried out massive search operation near the site.

After attacking the police post, the rebels had shot dead 19-year-old Min Bahadur Ghale, resident of Barpak-7, accusing him of tipping-off the police. A 70-year-old person also sustained injuries due to the Maoist attack.

Meanwhile, with the 32 more bodies of the Maoist rebels, who attacked the Satbariya- based camp of the Armed Police Force (APF) six days ago, discovered today, the death toll of the Maoists in the deadly attack has reached 92.

The security forces on Tuesday discovered the 92 bodies around the Satbariya area, our reporter, J Pandey, quoted a senior APF officer as saying from the incident site.

The officer said the corpses were discovered in scattered or buried or semi-buried conditions within two to three kilometres’ area from the incident site. The security forces had discovered 60 dead bodies of the Maoists till Monday. Three bodies of women rebels were among those found until now and the search is still on.

The rebels by Monday also took away 12 more bodies of their comrades. It is also believed that the Maoists had taken away the bodies of the dead militia chiefs.

The Maoists have also beheaded almost 100 dead colleagues in the incident. The rebels then took away the heads and dumped it in the Gangdi brook of Rajpur VDC beyond the Rapti River, according to locals. The area lies three kilometres away from the site of incident.

"The heads were dumped when the army helicopters were inspecting the site on the second day of the incident," a locally elected leader told The Kathmandu Post. "The heads could be distinctly seen floating along the river even today."

The security forces have still not been to the areas of Rajpur and Bela VDCs. The areas have been deemed as the "shelter areas" of the Maoists.

At the same time, reports of vandalising and destroying of development infrastructures by the Maoists have still been pouring in from various districts. According to our Surkhet-based correspondent, the Maoist rebels on Sunday evening gutted a bridge constructed along the Chhinchu-Jajarkot Road. Due to this, altogether eight buses have been stranded along the road. The road could not be cleared even by Tuesday.

Another group of the rebels also burnt the offices of Gadhi and Lekhgaon VDCs and partially destroyed it. The rebels also completely destroyed official documents.

Meanwhile, our Parbat-based correspondent reported that the Maoist rebels on Monday night completely destroyed a health post stationed at Malika VDC of Baglung district. Dozens of Maoists were involved in the destruction.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police, Dinesh Amatya, a police inspection team has already been dispatched to the incident site. The District Health Office said that different medicines worth Rs 18,000 were sent to the destroyed health post only a few days before.

Another rebel group on Monday night completely destroyed the office of Dekhatbhuli VDC of Kanchanpur district. After destroying the VDC office, the rebels also destroyed official documents, furniture and other property. The rebels also set fire on the adjoining Area Post Office.

Nepalis asked to show ID for treatment

Post Report

NEPALGUNJ, April 16:Alarmed by the increasing number of Maoists sneaking into Uttar Pradesh for treatment after carrying out various offensives in the country, the UP Police have directed the local health institutions to treat the Nepalis only after they produce their identity cards and by acquiring information about their situation.

According to a source at the Baharaich District Police of UP, the directives were issued upon official request of the Nepal government to keep vigilant eyes on the Maoist activities. The source also said the police are seriously working on it so that the general people will not get trouble. "If the Nepali patients come to India with identity cards, they will not face any trouble," the source said on Tuesday.

NHRC team in Dang

Post Report

KATHMANDU, April 16:A team of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) headed by its chief Nayan Bahadur Khatri is already in Dang to investigate the overall situation of human rights there.

NHRC has expressed concern over use of human shields by Maoists in Dang carnage and will be investigating into the respect, said secretary of the Commission Dr Shankar Kumar Shrestha.

The team besides Khatri consists of members Shankar Lal Das, Sushil Pyakurel, under secretary Amrit Bahadur Basnet and official Shankar Nath Adhikari.

"Since the chairman of the commission himself is in the team, it is the visit of the commission itself and it will assess all aspects of violation of human rights by both the state and non- state parties," said Shrestha.

Govt all set to foil Maoist-called bandh

Post Report

KATHMANDU, April 16:Minister of State for Home Devendra Raj Kandel said that the government has alerted the security forces in order to rule out any untoward incidents during the so- called five- day Nepal bandh called by the Maoist "terrorists" for next week.

Talking to The Kathmandu Post in his office today Kandel said that the government has already consulted with people from all the sectors of society including businessmen, industrialists and school owners and has asked for their cooperation to foil the bandh.

"Government has decided to continue the compensation policy adopted on the eve of last bandh, which was later called off by the rebels," said Kandel, adding that the ministry has assured compensation to any losses uncovered by the insurance.

"The security forces have already been ordered to shoot on sight anybody found involved in destructive activities." Kandel said, adding that patrolling of the security forces will be increased during the bandh.

On Monday, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had called an all - party meet to discuss ways to foil the " so-called bandh" in which the representatives all the political parties shared the same view as that of the government.

Meanwhile, the CPN (UML) standing committee today has asked the Maoists to withdraw the " so- called bandh" and urged the government to adopt measures to restore peace in the country.

"We urge the Maoists to stop destructive activities and bandh as it causes panic among the people ," a press statement released after the standing committee meeting said.

UML also urged the Maoists to give up violence and the trend of seeking solution of all problems through barrel of the gun and explore peaceful solutions of the problems.

National People’s Front (NPF) also has flayed the destructive activities operated by the Maoists and anti- progressive moves.

The party has reiterated its commitments made in an all- party meet some two weeks back to launch campaign against the Maoist violence and destruction but expressed disenchantment on the reports that the parties were going to the districts with a retaliatory mood.

Now, boys also trafficked to India, finds a new study

By Tilak Pokharel

KATHMANDU, April 16:The Nepali ear is attuned to hearing cases of trafficking in women and girls. Now, it can also hear about trafficking in boys. Yes, boys. And mostly from the southern Terai belt of the country.

A recently conducted study has found that a significant number of boys from the Terai districts of Dhanusha and Mahottari are being trafficked to different Indian cities. But unlike women trafficking, which is mostly done to force them into prostitution, the boys, the study suggests, are being trafficked primarily for cheap labour.

However, some boys are sexually abused too, the report has found. Members of the study team have put the percentage of such abused boys at seven percent. "Though the boys are trafficked for the purpose of cheap labour, seven per cent of them have been found sexually abused," Tine Staermose, Chief Technical Advisor at International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) told The Kathmandu Post. IPEC is a programme run by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

The study, which was recently conducted by the Women Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC) for ILO says that many boys even at an age of six have been forced to work for more than 11 hours a day. It adds that among the trafficked boys, 17.5 per cent are from Mahottari district alone, while 15 per cent are from Dhanusha. Another hilly district, Parbat, accounts for 10 per cent of the total number of boys trafficked to India.

But, Staermose who was a member of the research team said the living and working situation of almost all the young boys was very pathetic.

The term "trafficking" has usually been referred as the trafficking for the purpose of forced prostitution and sex slavery. So, the ongoing system of sending boys for employment does not look like trafficking if looked at it superficially, say members of the study team.

"When the actual situation of the trafficked boys was analysed thoroughly, they are trafficked as per the international conventions to which Nepal is a signatory, no matter what justifications or reasons are given to deny it," the research claims.

The problem was first identified in April last year when the Janakpur Information Booth of WOREC rescued 25 boys who were about to be taken to Mumbai by some local brokers. Many boys are working in the carpet factories under highly exploitative conditions in Mirjapur in Uttar Pradesh and the adjacent districts, according to the study.

Baburam Gautam, Executive Director of WOREC, who also had visited the study sites in India, said the working condition was extremely exploitative. "The boys as young as six years of age have to work for at least 11 hours and at maximum 18 hours a day," he said.

Those working in the hotels have to sleep on the tables, if not on the chilly floor and almost all the boys are offered stale food, Gautam said. "Most of the trafficked boys don’t get money for the first three years, as the money has to go to the traffickers." A trafficker takes Rs. 15,000 to 20,000 (Indian currency) for trafficking a boy to India.

Based on the findings of the study, ILO/IPEC, under the Sub-regional Project against Trafficking in Children and in South Asia (TICSA) has decided to launch a programme this summer. "This is an action research and we are currently formulating plan of action to implement in 19 districts," Staermose said. "Basically, vocational training and non-formal education will be given to the children prone to be trafficked."

According to Gautam, evidences have shown that the Nepali boys have been trafficked to India since last eight years. However, he also said the research team could not find the case of paedophiles and the boys trafficked for extracting their kidney. "But I cannot rule this out," he said.

Nepal, Russia sign visa agreement

RSS

KATHMANDU, April 16:An agreement between His Majesty’s Government and the Government of the Russian Federation on the abolition of visa requirements for the holders of diplomatic and service passports was signed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today.

Acting Foreign Secretary Madhu Raman Acharya signed the agreement on behalf of His Majesty’s Government and ambassador of the Russian Federation to Nepal Valery Vartanovich Nazarev signed on behalf of the government of the Russian Federation.

The agreement comes into force 30 days from today and it simplifies the official travel of diplomatic and official passport holders of the Kingdom of Nepal to the Russian Federation and vice versa by eliminating visa requirements for a maximum period of 180 days, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Property Commission seeks details from bigwigs

Post Report

KATHMANDU, April 16:Starting the much talked-about probe into the ill-gotten property of the government employees and political appointees made after 1990, the high level Property Probe Commission Tuesday distributed about 500 forms to various big shots of the country including Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and several ministers, secretaries and general managers.

According to a press release issued by the commission those who are given the forms are required to submit the forms to the commission within fifteen days by filling every details as demanded in the form.

In the form one has to fill several details like names of all the family members that the members of a joint family, sons in-law and daughter in –law and brothers in-law and also of the persons dependent to the family. Property held by members of a joint family and even a dependant person to the family, if any, has also to be stated in the form.

There are six categories of property to be stated in the form – gold and expensive jewelry, share, debenture, bond etc, bank deposit, cash deposited in foreign banks or financial institutions, vehicle with engine, machine or other electronic device (digital camera, heavy movie camera, international moving system mobile phone) and immovable property.

Under another category the form requires to fill details about land, industry owned by any member of the family or the dependent person of the family. Further, the form also requires to state the details of the fixed property if it is sold out after its purchase.

If any member of the family has been sent for study abroad or even within the nation through capitation fee should also be stated in the form.

According to the secretary of the Commission, Krishna Ram Shrestha, the Commission will send the forms to lower level employees in its second phase.

Gupta defends his decision on STN

Post Report

KATHMANDU, April 16:Minister for Information and Communications, Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta claimed on Tuesday that the decision of annulling the license of Space Time Network was not out of prejudice but rather made on the legal grounds.

Gupta told the parliamentary Public Account Committee (PAC) today that the license given to the STN was terminated after the company could not fulfil conditions within the stipulated time frame.

Gupta also claimed that his then successor Minister for Information and Communication, Shiva Raj Joshi, who decided to renew the license of the company, had done so under direct pressure from former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.

The application letter submitted by the company to the former prime minister itself had requested the government to consider the issue going beyond the legal ground. "It could not have claimed that it was in the strong position legally," said Gupta, justifying his move of cancelling the license.

"The license was automatically subjected to dismissal beyond the time frame," said Gupta, also claiming that the ministry had made the decision after thorough investigation of the issue, adding that the decision was made after the company evaded the tax and decline to install the earth station within the stipulated time frame.

Gupta also alleged that the STN had sought customs subsidies in the equipment, deceiving the government that all the equipment was necessary for their studio.

"The government had given subsidy in the studio but the company attempted to bring all the equipment into the parameter of studio equipment," Gupta said. "The office of the Auditor General has also pointed out that the company in question has evaded revenue," said, Gupta.

Gupta also alleged that the STN was trying its best to defame him. "It is using its all means to assassinate my character," said Gupta.

Meanwhile, seven presidents of the ruling party’s district units have pressed for the resignation of Minister Gupta on disciplinary grounds on Tuesday. " There is no point in the minister continuing in the post since the party has already expelled him from the party," the statement said.

Thimi proposes reviving defunct trolley service

By Milan Mani Sharma

KATHMANDU, April 16:When it was built by nearly three decades ago, the Trolley Bus Service (TBS) was not just an emblem of Nepal-China friendship and cooperation but also a major indicator of things to come if the nation’s potentially abundant hydropower could be put to good use .

But the transit system which serviced a 13 kilometre route from Kathmandu to Suryabinayak near Bhaktapur, went bust last December - a victim, some say, of the usual ills of state-owned enterprises.

Now communities who once relied heavily on the environment-friendly and cheap mode of transport - mainly around Bhaktapur, Thimi and Suryabinayak areas - are calling for its revival.

"The TBS had been serving people at odd hours as well," says Saurav Kafle of Gathhaghar, who rode the service for years. "From five in the morning to about 10 at night, the trolley buses gave regular service and it mattered most to people of Bhaktapur where the bus service halts as early as eight."

Not only that, it was often the only regular and reliable transport service during times of frequent bandhs. Kafle wants the service back, and so does the mayor of Madhyapur Thimi Municipality (MTM), Madan K Shrestha.

"If you ask me, the trolley bus never earned less than the other private buses. It was the anomalies persistent in the management that resulted in its downfall," says the mayor.

Shrestha has been urging the government to revive the TBS, but so far without success. If the government does not want to, or can’t, and if no private parties come forward, then it should let the MTM manage the service, he says. The mayor also informs that MTM has given just such a proposal to the government. But its fate is far from clear.

Many of those who worked for the service earlier say, if only the government has the will and the relatively small amount of funds, the service can be revived and run better than it was in its heyday.

That is a tantalising prospect, but one which the government hasn’t been able to decide quickly.

The TBS was operating 10 buses by the time it was dissolved on December 16 last year. Officials who once worked there, like former TBS chief Nirmal Krishna Manandhar, say that except for four buses rest can be operated with maintenance. "If Rs 10 million is spent on maintenance, almost all buses of the TBS can be operated," he said.

Some former officials also point out that the TBS assets are enough to help fund its revival. Apart from the infrastructure, it still has prime pieces of real estate on commercially important location of the city like Tripureswor, New Baneswor, Thimi and Suryabinayak. It also has 32 buses, though most are now old and rusty. With an estimated value of Rs 450 million, these assets could be leveraged to get fresh loans from the banks to re-start the service, they say.

Meanwhile, as the TBS’ future is being debated, other problems have cropped. Many Kathmanduites were shocked and angered by the sight of trolley bus lines dangling precariously from their poles some weeks ago – a potential traffic hazard. After much hue and cry, the Department of Roads has begun to remove the loose wires.

The Ministry spokesman Dhruva Sharma said that the Department of Roads had been asked to clear the loose wires affecting traffic flow on the busy Kathmandu-Bhaktapur road. As for the rest of the wires which are still intact, he said: "The fate of the remaining lines has not been decided yet." That is most likely to take place once the government evaluates the monetary worth of the wire and other properties of the TBS, he added.

Meanwhile, the government has constituted a four-member committee to evaluate the property of the Yatayat Sansthan, of which TBS was a part, as a whole. "Once the committee submits its report, which is expected to take place soon, the fate of the property of these institutions will be decided," added Sharma.

Former officials of the dissolved TBS, however, argue that the government should first dismantle the wires, as chance of its theft is high owing to its higher monetary value. "The overhead line of the TBS is worth as high as Rs 150 million," said Manandhar, the former TBS chief.