Dhading, March 27, 2008

At least 15 Nepali Congress cadres were injured when Maoists attacked them at Baseri VDC in Dhading’s Constituency No 1 last night.

Six of the injured were airlifted to Kathmandu this afternoon for treatment. The Maoists hunted and beat up the NC cadres who were staying in groups in different houses of the village to spend the night after participating in poll campaigns, NC Dhading said.

Among the 15 NC cadres injured in the incident, NC constituency no. 1 chairman Bhakta Lama, and NC cadres Jasbahadur Thapa, Dawa Tamang, Ganga Bahadur Tamang, Lal Bahadur Tamang and Kale Tamang were airlifted to Kathmandu at 12:00 noon today, said Dhading president of the NC Ram Nath Adhikari.

The incident site is about 40 km north of the district headquarters Dhadingbesi. Meanwhile, CPN-Maoist’s Dhading district secretary Gyanu Basnet said an unidentified gang might have been involved in the attack in the name of the Maoists. He said action would be taken against his party cadres if they were found to be involved in the incident. In another incident, Maoist cadres attacked CPN-UML cadres in Dhading’s Kumpur VDC last night.

Four CPN-UML cadres were hurt in the attack at around 7:00 pm. Suresh Shrestha, a teacher from Kumpur Chekwang, who was abducted after the incident, was released after 12 hours today. He has come into contact with his family.

Indra Kumar Shrestha, Top Bahadur Shrestha, Bimala Shrestha and Gopal Gurung were attacked while they were returning from an election meeting at Majhitar of Kumpur VDC.

Talks with armed Tarai outfits unlikely before Sunday

Kathmandu, March 27, 2008

Talks between the government and the four armed groups of the Tarai are likely to happen only after Saturday, said Pawan, coordinator of the Sanyukta Jantantrik Tarai Mukti Morcha, one of the four groups invited by the government for talks.

The government had expected to hold talks with the outfits in Janakpurdham tomorrow.

Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Ram Chandra Poudel said the government functionaries were constantly receiving messages from the leaders of the armed groups and trying to convince them to sit for talks as soon as possible. “Now, some of the invited groups are demanding that their cadres be released before talks. We have assured them that the cadres will be released after talks.

The matter has not been settled as of this evening. “How can we trust the outfits and release their cadres before sitting for talks?”

Poudel asked. Last week, the government had invited SJTMM, Janatantrik Tarai Mukti Morcha led by Rajan Mukti, Madhes Mukti Tigers and Tarai Cobra led by Nagraj for talks. All of them have agreed to hold talks with the government.