National 5 (Spotlight Weekly)

Rising Robberies

After the government-Maoist cease-fire, cases of robbery have risen drastically

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

On March 18, a group of persons swooped on an isolated area of Jhulpokhari in Kirtipur municipality, some 5 kilometers to the south of Balkhu in Kathmandu, in the middle of the night. The group, which was armed with pistols, country guns and knives, cut off the telephone lines of around half a dozen houses in the locality, and systematically robbed these lower class families of their hard-earned money and property all through the night.

Police office : More alacrity needed

"Despite my pleadings that I earned by working at houses of other people, they confiscated even my small necklace," said Laxmi Adhikary, a resident of that locality. The robbers before leaving with the loots including money, television, ornaments, clothes and what have you amounting to around half a million rupees, claimed that they were Maoists. "The leaders have gone to the town for talks. But what are we expected to do. We have to survive," said one of the group members, according to a victim.

Along with the announcement of cease-fire, the cases of robberies have drastically increased in the country particularly in the Terai region.

In the first week of April, armed robbers looted over a million rupees in a single night in Nijgadh, Fattepur and Inarwasira villages in Bara district, in what appeared to be coordinated loot. Around the same date, another armed group robbed gold and cash from the locals in the Kumroj village in Chitawan district.

On April Fool's day a gang of robbers barged into the houses of eleven families in the Poudeshwore village in Dhanusha district and looted cash and kind worth half a million rupees. The robbers forced the families to open the doors in the middle of the night warning that they were Maoists. The dacoits terrorized the local people before leaving with their booty. Things came to such a pass that the local Maoist commander ordered a probe into the incident and reportedly nabbed the culprits.

These kind of incidents of armed robberies have shot up everywhere. Often the dacoits claim to be the Maoists in order to terrorize the families and subdue them so that their job becomes easier. Besides, by claiming to be Maoists, the dacoits also attempt to ward off any subsequent investigation by the authorities.

"Incidents of armed robberies often carried out by people who claim they are Maoists have increased rapidly after the ceasefire. It could be the works of the desperate cadres of the Maoists or the opportunistic professional dacoits who are taking advantage of the situation in the country," said a senior police official, on condition of anonymity. "But it is highly plausible that armed cadres of Maoists, who are habituated to getting what they want by terrorizing people, could be engaging in such robberies now that their party has announced ceasefire and has announced it would no longer force donations or extortions," he said.

Either way, the common people are living in fear, especially in semi-urban areas where it is relatively easy for the robbers to carry out their activities in the darkness of night.

Robbery is a common crime particularly in the Terai regions that border India. "The incidents of Nepalese dacoits crossing over the border to rob villages in India and vice versa has been happening for many years," said the police official.

According to police, robberies worth tens of millions of rupees occur in the country every year. And it is difficult to nab the culprits as they often cross the open border and lie low till the case cools back here.

As the country moves towards peace, the rising cases of crime like the armed robberies raise serious concern on how the coming days will be for the ordinary Nepalese. People still fear that even after the Maoists lay down their arms for good, criminal elements could always take advantage and terrorize them for a long time to come.