Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, March 5:

Even as rights activists said they were making efforts to facilitate the release of Bishnu Prasad Bhetwal, a Maoist abductee, Nisha, a daughter of Bhetwal, said at an interaction here today that the activists were not making enough efforts to secure the release of her father. Bhetwal was abducted from Charpane-4 in Jhapa district on January 17. “His absence has shocked us. We are going through extremely difficult times,” she said. The aggrieved daughter called on the human right activists, journalists and the government to make concerted efforts to facilitate her father’s release.

However, human rights activist Subodh Pyakurel said efforts were being made to secure Bhetwal’s release. President of the Amnesty International Nepal, Pradeep Pokherel, promised to exert pressure on the Maoists to set Bhetwal free. Expressing concern over the violation of the Geneva Convention by the Maoists and the government, rights activist and advocate Dinesh Tripathi urged the Maoists to abide by the Convention and release Bhetwal immediately.