Kathmandu, September 4 :

The three members of the Maoist talks team today led a night time rally of the families of those who have been disappeared by the state.

The rally which started at New Road and other points of the city marched to Bhadrakali, demanding the whereabouts of the disappeared.

The demonstrators chanted slogans against the government and the army.

“This is the beginning. While we are making polite calls to the government stressing our demand, things could be nasty in future,”said Krishna Bahadur Mahara who addressed nearly 1000 demonstrators on the spot at 10.30 pm.

Also present were Dina Nath Sharma and Dev Gurung.

The sit-in protest will remain in place until the demands are met.

Earlier in the afternoon, traffic movement in the Kathmandu Valley was completely disrupted for over four hours due to Maoist Victims Association’s sit-in programme at the entrance to Singha Durbar and rallies at Thapathali and Bhadrakali areas.

The Valley Traffic Police Office failed to provide alternative routes during the traffic jam as it was claiming for some months.

The four-hour-long traffic jam caused difficulties for commuters and motorcyclists.

Meanwhile, police detained around 40 Maoist victims from the main gate of Singha Durbar and released in the afternoon.

They were staging a sit-in programme at the Singhadurbar main gate.

The Maoist victims are on the streets asking the government to meet their 10-point demands, which include compensation, allowance for unemployed and declaring those who were killed by the Maoists as martyrs.