Kathmandu, May 17:

The World Bank, issuing a press release today, has strongly condemned the recent abduction and murder of Navaraj Bista, an engineer working for the Udaypur DDC.

Bista was employed with the Rural Access Improvement and Decentralisation Project funded by the World Bank and implemented by the Department of Local Infrastructure Development and Agriculture Roads (DOLIDAR).

He and three other project staff were abducted when they were returning from a field training in Siraha on May 11. The Jana-tarik Terai Mukti Morcha (Goit Faction) claimed responsibility for the kidnappings and the subsequent murder of Bista.

“We are deeply shocked by this incident,” said Ken Ohashi, World Bank country director for Nepal in the press note. “Development workers, be they engineers, teachers, or health care providers, should not be subjected to political violence. If their safety is not assured, we will be forced to assess whether our development assistance should continue in such areas.”

The Bank expressed its condolences to the family of late Bista and sympathies to project staff traumatised by the incident.