Counterfeit currency notes seized from scribe: Police

By BIKASH SANGRAULA & JITENDRA SAH

KATHMANDU, Aug : The case of journalist Lokendra KC, who was arrested yesterday by security at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) for attempting to carry Indian rupees 1.4 million to Simara, took a new turn today after police concluded that the bank notes are counterfeit. This has brought out probabilities of KC’s involvement in a major money-counterfeiting racket.

Superintendent of Police Bimala Thapa, Chief of Airport Security told The Kathmandu Post that ultraviolet tests have proved that the notes are counterfeit. "The Central Bank will provide the official conclusion after formalities," she said.

Thapa also said that the mobile number 981047602, stated by KC to belong to Ajay Alam, to whom the suitcase was to be delivered, is actually the number of KC’s mobile. In yet another development, Yeti Airlines’ office at Simara airport is reported to have been contacted yesterday by an unidentified person from mobile number 25326 inquiring about the suitcase. Police are still trying to track down the mobile’s owner.

Meanwhile Anil Shrestha, owner of Ganga Hotel in Baghbazaar, previously known as Ratna Hotel, said that no person bearing the name Raj Mohammed Alam had checked in or checked out of the Hotel during a week’s period. K.C had claimed yesterday that Alam, residing in the hotel, had offered him Rs. 500 for delivering the suitcase containing the cash to his younger brother Ajay Alam in Simara. According to reports from Birgunj, Alam brothers used to stay at Adhapur Village, about 8 kilometers south from Nepal-India border.

Shrestha also said that no one from the police had contacted him or raided the hotel since the arrest of Lokendra KC. "I was expecting the police to inquire at the hotel. Surprisingly that hasn’t occurred," said Shrestha

A senior official at the Police Headquarters said under conditions of anonymity that airport security displayed carelessness by not taking immediate action. "They should have informed the supervisory team. That would have expedited investigations," he said. He added that the hotel has been known in the past for being involved in various cases of Indian currency forgery. The hotel has been raided four times in the past, he said.

Keshav Baral, Valley Deputy Inspector General of Police, said that information of the arrest was provided immediately to customs, Ministry of Finance and relevant authorities. "However, there was a general lack of seriousness," he said.

KC, chief of business news of Annapurna Post, a Nepali daily published by Asia Pacific Communicaions Associate, is in custody at the Police at Hanumandhoka Police Station.

The APCA had handed suspension letter to KC at TIA police station. They requested SP Bimala Thapa not to allow other journalists to meet KC in custody.

Bhoj Bahadur KC, publisher of the now-defunct Lok Patra Dainik said that Alam, whose name is linked with the case was never the managing director of the publication. He told The Kathmandu Post that the name of Alam was linked to Lok Patra maybe fabricated with an ill intention to cast shadow over the issue of foreign investment in Nepal’s print media.

Medicine strike to intensify

BY SAMEER GHIMIRE

KATHMANDU, Aug 10 : The drug importers’ strike is taking a turn for the worse from tomorrow as medicine wholesalers vow to stop selling drugs to medicine shops and pharmacies throughout the kingdom.

"We have decided to stop the retail sales from tomorrow to further strengthen our protest in an attempt to press the government to meet our demands," said Paras Baral, President of Nepal Chemists and Druggists Association (NCDA), which is spear-heading the strike.

The move would stop drug sales from importers and wholesalers to over 15,000 chemists and pharmacy outlets all over Nepal that sell medicines to customers. If the strike is not resolved in a few days, the capital and rest of the country might experience severe medicine shortage as a result of the stepped up protest. The domestic drug market heavily depends on foreign imports, mainly from India from where around Rs 12 million worth of medicines are ordered every day.

Medicine importers have been on strike since Thursday protesting the recent hike in customs duty on imported drugs by one per cent. The NCDA is also angry at new regulations by the Department of Drugs Administration (DDA) to allow only trained pharmacists to open up medical stores. NCDA says there simply aren’t that many trained pharmacists in the kingdom.

The government and the NCDA held negotiations yesterday to resolve the dispute, but without any success. Talks were not held today.

Talking to The Kathmandu Post, president Baral said that decision to stop sales to retailers is in response to the government’s laxity in fulfilling their demands. "It is amazing that the government continues to keep mum despite the heightening crisis," he said.

Meanwhile, the government is in no mood to succumb to the pressure tactics. "Their demand to scale down the tariff rate at one per cent is baseless," said the source, who is also a member of the government’s talk team.

NCDA on the other hand intends to ratchet up the pressure further. If the government is not responsive even now, Baral said, all retailers would go on strike too, effectively stopping medicine sales.

When asked whether the present protest by the importers could lead to drug-shortage in the country, Bhupendra Bahadur Thapa, Director General of the Department of Drugs Administration assured that the government would not let such situation arise.

"We are closely monitoring the supply network," said Thapa. "But if this strike continues, the government either will force importers to resume their import and sales or manage the task itself."

Meanwhile, issuing a press release, Association of Pharmaceutical Producers of Nepal (APPON) today lambasted the protest staged by the agitating drug importers without mentioning the name of the NCDA.

"The government should not allow unnecessary facilities to the imported products," states the release. The group also registered its serious concerns over the dwindling supply of drugs.

15 rhinos in one day: An infamous poacher’s gory story

By Khuman Sing Tamang

NARAYANGARDH, Aug 10 : "While children played near the jungle, I would be taking aim at rhinos. Upon hearing the sound of my home-made gun, they would stop playing at once and say ‘Bam Bahadur killed a rhino!’ Thus recounted Bam Bahadur Praja, 27, in Bansghari of Siddhi VDC-3 in Chitwan district of his poaching forays.

Praja is now in police detention on charges of killing 17 rhinos in a span of five years.

Notorious that Praja is, he is the most wanted poacher to be apprehended by police only recently from Adhabhar check post area of Bara district at the initiatives of Royal Chitwan National Park.

He is now in tight-security confinement for investigation at the Armed Forest Guard Training Centre, Bharatpur, the headquarters of Chitwan district.

"Only after killing three rhinos that I came to know it was an illegal act. But I continued to kill them," said Praja who now regrets his misdeeds.

Praja comes from a tribe where people hunt monkeys for food. At age of 13, he had mastered hunting monkeys with his home-made guns. But it was Bijaya Lama, another notorious poacher, who lured Praja into the illegal business of poaching.

The easy money to be had made Praja a merciless poacher in no time..

"Lama must have chosen me because I was very good at shooting," said Praja.

Praja would receive Rs. 5,000 to 85,000 for a rhino horn.

His first customer was Prem Bishwakarma from Kshetrapur, whom he sold the first three kills. Both Prem and his accomplice, Balkrishna Bishwakarma who was a guard in the Daldale community forest in Nawalparasi, have already been arrested.

"Between one and three o’clock in the afternoon was the best time for rhino poaching," according to Praja. His record is shooting 15 rhinos in the Daldale community forest alone. And he killed them all in a single day!

"I would first shoot a rhino in the head. Then I would separate its horn with my axe," said the poacher.

When asked why he did not quit poaching even after knowing that it was illegal and was liable to a severe penalty, Praja said, "Lama wanted to fly me to Malasiya in case of danger. However, I was ready to face death, here itself."

Praja confessed that he earned a total of Rs 875,000 from rhino poaching.

"I hid the money in a cave near Chandranigahapur of Rautahat district because I did not know that money could be kept safely in banks," said Praja.

He had also built a house at Chandranigahapur where his wife, son and daughter live.

The police had been looking for Praja for the past four years.

Nepali Gurkha guard shot dead in Basra

BAGHDAD, Aug 10 (AFP) - A Nepali Gurkha security guard attached to the US-British coalition in Iraq was killed Sunday in riot-swept Basra, the country’s second largest city, a coalition spokesman said.

"A Gurkha hired by the CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority) was killed," the spokesman told AFP, without giving details on the circumstances of his death. Gurkhas formerly with the British army have been hired out by a private security firm and are being used by the coalition, he said.

Samaritans from Germany come to twins' rescue

BY MANISH GAUTAM

KATHMANDU, AUG 10 : Twins born in Rukum and flown to Kathmandu by two German ladies have found an organisation which has expressed its commitment to take care for them, at least for the time being. The organisation is Human Development and Community Service (HDCS).

While their mother, Dulmi Oli, had died in a state of unconsciousness two days after giving birth to the twins, the father thought it wise to give the twins away rather than take them home.

Sunday was a special day for the twins. They were christened Jeevan and Ashish on the eleventh day of their birth through Caesarian section at the Churijhara hospital in Rukum.

Hutter and Silke Soehner, both German development workers who run community health and adult literacy programme in Rukum, had flown the newly born twins to the capital.

The father of the children, who came only after the boys were born, said they would be better off if someone took care of them.

"We flew the twins to Kathmandu since they have no one of their own. What they need now is a reliable guardian," Susan told The Kathmandu Post. "We were moved by the misfortune of the twins. In fact, we could not imagine not caring about them," the German ladies said.

The mother was taken to hospital soon after she began having labour pain. She never knew that she would give birth to twins. "She was brought to the hospital in an unconscious state," Susan informed.

"The mother’s condition was highly critical. She had insufficient blood in her system," Susan said, adding that blood supply was arranged from local school students. "But that did not save her life."

Prem Bahadur Oli, the father of the twins, had not come to the hospital with his wife due to household chores. He did come, however, to hand the twins over to the German ladies, explaining, "There are already two minors at home and the twins will not get the necessary care." The father was sad and did not even look at the twins.

The German ladies are on the lookout for an arrangement for the twins’ care since Susan is returning to Germany on Friday. Silke is here for the next three months.

"I am equally grieved and shocked. They must be taken care of," Silke said.

Meanwhile, the Executive Director of Human Development and Community Services (HDCS) Tirtha Bahadur Thapa, who has taken over the task of caring for the twins said, "The twins are healthy.

They open their eyes and cry when they are hungry."

Susan, who was feeding the twins milk from a bottle, suggested mother’s milk would be best for them. She sounded ecstatic when revealing that yet another pair of twins, who were born under similar circumstances three years ago, had survived similar adverse situations.

The hospital, which caters to the needs of the people of Salyan, Jajarkot, Rolpa, Jumla and Dolpa, has only two doctors and 27 health workers.

However, pregnant mothers are taken to the hospital only in case of emergency.

King to lose if he distances himself from parties: Koirala

POST REPORT

BARA, AUG 10 : Nepali Congress (NC) President Girija Prasad Koirala has said that King Gyanendra would not be benefiting if he alienates himself from the people and the political parties. He said this while addressing NC party workers in Kalaiya.

He also made it clear that the political parties were not against the institution of monarchy as such, but were fighting against the regressive policies adopted by King Gyanendra eversince October 4.

"If the king does not listen, people will soon alienate him," Koirala said, adding that the agitation currently underway and the ones which the nation had seen in the past were different in nature.

"While the kings of the past used to be individual systems in themselves, the situation now is such that the king has tended to rule on the strength of guns," Koirala further said. He also said that while the kings can have different characters, it should not be reflected in the functioning of constitutional monarchy.

He also debunked claims that he has been criticising the institution of monarchy, stating that the NC was a centrist political institution and would remain so.

"If we join ranks with the rebels, the impression it can send will be that we are backing the republican cause. If we back the king, it appears that we will end up supporting the regression," Koirala said, while explaining why the NC Party was not backing either the rebels or the government.

Koirala also said that the army, police and the bureaucracy must support the cause espoused by the political parties since "they will be joining the common people once they retire."

Indicating at the possibility of the rebels and royal forces ending up as friendly forces, Koirala said that the event would lead to an unfortunate scenario.

Referring to the upcoming seventh phase of the planned political agitation for the restoration of constitutional process, Koirala said the nation would come to a grinding halt in the seven days of the scheduled protest.

"That agitation will take place in front of the Narayanhity Royal Palace and under my leadership," Koirala said, adding "The king will be left to yield to our demand at the end of it all."

Koirala also addressed party workers in Hetauda and said that kings who cannot put up with people have gone down in history in miserable manners. He also clarified that the parties would neither join the government nor the peace talks since doing either would mean backing the dictatorial king or the warring rebels.

PM instructs immediate reconstruction of Pratappur

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Aug 10 : Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa today instructed to begin the reconstruction of Pratappur temple as soon as the probe committee on the temple fire submits its report. The committe is due to submit its report by this week. Thapa visited the fire-ravaged Pratappur temple in the premises of Swayambhunath Stupa today.

According to Chandra Prasad Tripathi, a member of the probe-committee, the Prime Minister announced that the government would provide needful financial support for the reconstruction of the temple. He was accompanied by Sarbendra Nath Shukla, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation.

Violence victims narrate woes in South Asia Court of Women

BY DAMAKANT JAYSHI

DHAKA, Aug 10 : "Will the actual judges and those wielding power respond to our stories and help?" asked one of the participants from India at an informal gathering of the South Asia Court of Women on the Violence of Trafficking and HIV/AIDS. "Will proof be asked of us?"

The first question reflected the scepticism of the women who have been victims of various forms of violence and have been denied justice. The second was pointed at the difficulties of bringing the perpetrators of violence to book.

About 40 victims of violence from Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are going to testify in front of the Court of Women whose "jury" also includes Winnie Mandela, President of the Women’s African National Congress, among seven others. Today, Mandela interacted with some of the testifiers who have been dubbed "victims", "resistors" and "survivors of various kinds of violence."

The court, the 18th of its kind, is symbolic in nature and serves as "an opportunity to provide the victims space to listen and to be heard." The hearings will be held on Tuesday.

The mood of today’s informal meet turned sombre after a video film of a real victim, Souaad El Sorour of Palestine, was shown. Sorour, one of the Beirut refugees in Sabra and Shatila, was raped at the age of 17 in front of her father by Lebanese Christian Phalangist militia in 1982. The mission of the militia sanctioned by the then Israeli Defence Minister Ariel Sharon – currently the Prime Minister of Israel – was to flush out alleged PLO "terrorists" who were believed to be holed up in the camps.

"We have suffered a lot, but we can also change lives," said Farida Akhtar, Executive Director of UBINIG, Bangladesh. UBINIG, a Bengali acronym, stands for Policy Research for Development Alternative. Akhtar added that women can compel the powers that be to respond to violence faced by women, and take steps to end the oppression.

While the Court of Women is central to the three-day gathering beginning tomorrow, another significant aspect of this meet is the "women in black" demonstration near the parliament building in the Bangladeshi capital, the organisers said, adding that they are still discussing the venue with the police. The demonstration, tentatively scheduled for 5 pm on Monday, would see women either in black sarees or donning black cloaks.

The meeting is being organised by the Asian Women’s Human Rights Council (AWHRC) in partnership with the UNDP Regional HIV and Development Programme for South and North East Asia, and UBINIG. Other organisers are Oxfam GB, Nepal office; AATWIN Nepal; IMDR, Sri Lanka; LHRLA, Pakistan, and Vimochan, Bangladesh.