Biratnagar, November 2:

Ten policemen of the Eastern Regional Police Training Centre in Rani Biratnagar were suspended today for terrorising people in the name of Maoists.

DIG of the Eastern Regional Police Office, Keshav Baral, said the policemen were suspended after a meeting in which the Maoists had also taken part. They have been suspended to facilitate a fair investigation.

The policemen have been accused of posing as Maoists and manhandling employees of a vehicle and stealing a cassette player near the Koshi project office in Biratnagar. Villagers had caught two cops yesterday. All 10 are in police custody, DIG Baral said.

The suspended policemen have been identified as Tikaram Dahal, Min Kumar Bhujel, Amrit BK, Ram Kumar Mandal, Manoj Sardar, Dhrub Khadka, Pravin Singh, Dhan Bahadur Tamang, Binod Pariyar and Parshuram Basnet.

Discussions were held twice in the district police office yesterday, but no decision was reached.

Representatives of the civil monitoring committee, seven political parties, the Maoists, police officials and administration officials, following a meeting today, decided to come up with a report on the incident within 10 days.

Morang in-charge of the CPN (Maoist) Sagar accused the policemen of spreading terror among the people systematically. DIG Baral went to the incident spot to apologise to the victims. He said the policemen had made the mistake under the influence of alcohol.