Dang, November 5:

The whereabouts of rights activists Prakash Acharya and Nirmal Acharya, who were abducted on Wednesday, are still unknown.

The two brothers, natives of Pawanpur - 8 Bhamake, had been living in Tulsipur and they were abducted while they were returning home after harvesting paddy.

The Republican Youth Tiger group has owned up the abduction. The group has forwarded a five-point demand over phone for the release of the two, the Acharya family said. The family has called on the abductors for more talks.

Wives of Prakash and Nirmal, Sita and Prakash, and different district-based organisations have appealed for the safe release of the duo. Meanwhile, regional officer and protection officer at the Nepalgunj office of the National Human Rights Commission Bed Prasad Bhattarai and Pawan Bhatta met the family of the abductees and acquired information about the incident.

Though the Maoists’ involvement was suspected initially, Dang district in-charge of the CPN (Maoist) Diamond, issuing a press release, has denied hand in the abduction and urged the abductors to safely release Acharya duo.