Reprieve for Yuganta

BANKE: Dipendra Shah 'Yuganta', commander, PLA Fifth Division camped in Dahawan of Rolpa, was released on Friday morning. Yuganta had been jailed under Public Security Act. Nepalgunj Appellate Court released him, responding to a habeas corpus petition filed by lawyer Tirtha Gyawali. A bench of judges Hariram Koirala and Tapa Bahadur Rayamajhi issued the release order. According to Tika Jung Singh, the lawyer defending the Maoist People's Liberation Army commander, the court had issued the order as it did not find the act of Chief District Officer Birendra Bahadur Baniya justifiable, to keep in him under house arrest.

PU students on strike

BIRATNAGAR: Protesting against police misbehavior, the students of Purwanchal University called for strike in Biratnagar bazaar and all educational institutes on Friday. The police, however, said that only the educational institutions remained shut but the bazaar was unaffected. The students were protesting against police action on them while they were padlocking the Examination Controller's Office of the University.

School-shifting row

KALIKOT: Discord between guardians of Sera and Molfa VDCs in Kalikot district over shifting Janajiban Primary School has adversely affected teaching-learning activities in the school for the past one-and-a-half months.Teachers come to the school only to mark their attendance in the register while the students have been absenting following the debate over shifting the school.