Lekhnath, March 2:

Police today arrested three persons undergoing treatment in the Padam Nursing Home at New Road in Pokhara on suspicion of being Maoists.

Those arrested are Bishnu Pradhan, Pratibha Parajuli and Amar Parajuli, the police said. Pratibha and Amar Parajuli are students of Prithvi Narayan Multiple Campus. All of them have been detained in the district police office Kaski.

Similarly, RNA personnel captured three Maoists from Hanspur VDC of Kaski on Tuesday. Those arrested are Nara Bahadur Pun (Kailash) of Salyan district, Kshitiz of Syangja Oraste and Sheetal of Syangja Biruwa Archel. They have been kept in the district police office, the security source said.

Meanwhile, issuing a statement on Thursday Maoists have appealed to human rights activists, media persons and intellectuals to take steps to save the their arrested comrades’ lives.

Locals of Hansapur VDC said the army men also beat up civilians. Bam Dev Subedi (41) was severely beaten up by the army, according to his family source. He owns a shop in the village. His wife Fulmaya Subedi said he could not even move out of his bed due to the beating. “You are running a shop to support Maoists’ cause,” Fulmaya quoted the army as saying before they beat up her husband.