Extortionist soldier caught

Kathmandu, May 23 :

A soldier of the Indradhoj Batallion of the Nepalese Army was today caught extorting

money from people at Sallaghari in Bhaktapur.

Ratan Kumar Rai - identity card number 211564 - of Sampan village in Bhojpur district, who was posing as a Maoist, was caught in the act by representatives of the All Nepal National Independent Students’ Union - Revolutionary (ANNISU-R).

Rajesh Rai, a labourer, was also caught for aiding the soldier in his bid to extort money in the name of Maoists.

“In course of the extortion drive, the duo had reached one Dil Bahadur Limbu’s house

to collect a sum of Rs 50,000 even as they had demanded Rs 500,000 earlier,” said Yubaraj Chaulagain, ANNISU-R treasurer, at a press conference organised to make public the fake Maoists’ identity.

The duo was carrying fake receit pads of the Maoists. The receipts showed they had collected Rs 190,003 so far. It showed that one Bhupendra Lama of Golfutar had parted with Rs 100,001, Rs 65,001 had been taken from one Rabit Panta of Lokanthali and Rs 25,001 from one Prabesh Shakya of Sundhara.

“I am in Kathmandu on home leave and a man called Ajaya Rai, whom I know from

my school days, asked me to extort money from people. The brain behind the whole idea escaped while we were caught,” Ratan Kumar said.

“We do not want to disturb the environment that is being created for peace talks, as such we will not take any action against them. They will be freed and the Army will take action against the soldier,” Chaulagain said.

Stating that some “reactionist elements” are trying to consipre against the Maoists, he urged

the people to be aware of such “fake Maoists”.