Damak, January 29:

Soldiers of the 1st division of the Maoist People’s Liberation Army at Chulachuli camp in Ilam have accused the government of being indifferent to the treatment of injured PLA soldiers there and in the three sub-camps.

Acting commander of the PLA’s 1st division headquarters at Chulachuli, Karma Sherpa, said the government was not caring to provide treatment to the PLA personnel who suffered injuries during the people’s war. “The condition of many PLA personnel is worsening due to lack of treatment,” he said.

Sherpa claimed that over 100 PLA personnel in Chulachuli camp and three sub-camps at Taandi and Yangshila of Morang district and Danabari of Ilam district still have bullets lodged in different parts of their bodies. Of them, 75 are unable to walk. He added that doctors have advised surgery to remove the bullets from their bodies.

Sherpa, himself, sustained bullet injuries in his buttocks in a clash at Ramite in Morang during the conflict. Despite medical treatment, he has to use crutches.

A woman PLA soldier Sanju Ghimire, who sustained 12 bullet injuries in a clash with security forces, said her condition is deteriorating as some of the bullets that lodged in her arms have still not been removed.

The Maoist personnel said the work of assessing the situation and determining the number of injured PLA soldiers in the main camp and sub-camps was on.

Medical professionals of the District Public Health Offices concerned are treating the ailing PLA personnel in the camps. There are 3,500 personnel in the PLA’s 1st division at Chulachuli and sub-camps at Taandi, Yangshila and Danabari.