Rautahat, July 18:

Maoist cadres today padlocked the Rautahat district administration office demanding immediate and unconditional release of their leaders and cadres.

Cadres affiliated to Madheshi Rastriya Mukti Morcha padlocked the office saying that their leaders and party workers have been arrested on false charges and are being detained in various jails in the country and the government was not serious to release them.

“Detainees at Gaur jail have been staging protest programmes from the past two months demanding release of leaders detained in Nepal and abroad but the government has not shown any concern,” said a detainee, Chandeshwor Baitha.

Minister for Land Reform and Management, Prabhu Narayan Chaudhari, on July 6 had assured the detainees that the government would fulfill the demands raised by the prisoners within ten days but nothing has happened, Baitha said. “Minister Chaudhari released only one detainee today and irate prisoners have padlocked the district administration office, a Maoist cadre, Lila Prasad Shah, who was released from the jail today, said.

Hundreds of Maoist cadres went inside the DAO asked administrative officer Bishnu Prasad Poudel and other staffers to go out and padlocked the office of CDO and the main gate of the office at noon today. Local administration, representatives of the seven-party alliance and Maoists are holding talks to solve the problem but no agreement was reached till late in the evening.