Kathmandu, March 4

Security agencies have sought a clear political opinion on Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal from Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Minister of Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa.

In a meeting held at the home ministry after recent Ncell blast and arson incidents, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and National Investigation Department said the government should come clean on whether the Chand-led group was a political force or something else so that they could take appropriate action to avoid such incidents.

In response to Thapa’s question why they have failed to pre-empt the attacks, security forces sought clarity from the government on laws to deal with the group, according to Home Minister Thapa’s Security Adviser Indrajit Rai.

The Nepali Congress has also sought clarity on whether the group is a political outfit or a terrorist group. Speaking in a National Assembly meeting recently, NC lawmaker Jitendra Narayan Dev asked the government and the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) about their plans to deal with the Biplav-led party.

The government and the ruling party, however, have yet to decide on the matter, but top NCP leaders have been holding consultations.

NCP Co-chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal told mediapersons in Biratnagar today that in case the Chand-led group didn’t mend its extremist ways, the government would control it.

Police have arrested around 400 CPN cadres, some armed with sophisticated guns, over the past year on charges of extortion, bomb blasts, intimidation and robbery.

Recently, a CPN cadre was arrested with a made-in-US M-16 rifle. Nepali Army had procured M-16 rifles from the US during the decade-long Maoist insurgency.

Maoists had looted some of the rifles from the army. CPN politburo member Mohan Karki, however, said the party did not have such weapons, and that the confiscation of M-16 rifle was nothing but a ploy to arrest its cadres.

But security agencies suspect CPN cadres stole and hid some of the weapons, including M-16s, from Maoist cantonments before the conclusion of the integration process.

Dahal said his party had informed the government about the theft of some of the weapons from the cantonments before the integration.

In a recent video message, Chand said his party had in place the ‘concept and structure’ for the formation of a strong ‘People’s Liberation Army’.

Karki, however, said his party’s campaign was purely political, but conceded that ‘some errors’ could happen during such campaigns against corruption. He said the government had been arresting CPN cadres without the court’s arrest warrants violating human rights.

“We are ready to hold dialogue with the government. “But the government should treat us as a parallel state force since we have formed parallel governments across the country,” said Karki.

A government talks team that completed its mandate recently could not contact the Chand-led group despite repeated efforts.

“If the government prohibits us, we’ll retaliate,” Karki said, adding that his party was also forging ties with the international community through its sister organisations abroad.

As per the government understanding, the Chand-led CPN might scale up its activities around the Investment Summit scheduled to be held in Kathmandu on March 29 and 30.