Strike in Pyuthan

PYUTHAN: People of Devisthan in Pyuthan district staged an hour-long transport strike. They resorted to the protest after DSP Dhruva Mahara allegedly ordered the release of a motorcyclist, who had hit a five-year-old girl. “An unidentified motorcyclist had hit the child on Friday and Devisthan Police Post had told the Dhungegadhi Police Post to arrest the motorcyclist,” Narayan KC, a Devisthan resident, said. “We staged a demonstration after we learnt that the Dhungegadhi Police Post had freed the motorcyclist as per the order of DSP Mahara,” another resident Uttam Bahadur Poudel said. However, DSP Mahara said the motorcyclist was freed after he agreed to fund the treatment of the injured. — HNS

Kidnap slur on YCL

PHIDIM: Claiming to be associated with the Young Communist League (YCL), a gang abducted Dhanapati Neupane, 46, and Chintamani Neupane, 43, from Bharapa VDC on Saturday, said Hari Narayan Ghimire, a local. The two are residents of Bharapa-2. The two were witnesses in a case related to Bishnu Ghimire and his brother of Yangnam-1. The case is under consideration in the district court, Hari Narayan said. He added that the YCL cadres might have abducted the two to interrogate them about the case. Family members claimed that the gang had abducted the two under the direction of the YCL’s Phidim chapter. In another incident, a gang abducted Prakhyat Khatiwoda, 12, from Raghopur 1 in Siraha district on Friday. — HNS

One killed in mishap

NAWALPARASI: One person died and 10 were injured when a bus, which was bound for Kathmandu from Tikapur of Kailali district, overturned in Dumkauli of Nawalparasi district along the Narayangarh-Butwal section of the East-West Highway on Saturday. According to the District Traffic Police Office, 22-year-old bus conductor Anil Thapa died in the incident. The injured are undergoing treatment in the Danda-based Madhyabindu hospital and Bharatpur hospital. — HNS

Ex-Kamaiyas’ woes

BAITADI: The freed Kamaiyas have called on the government to rehabilitate them. The government had emancipated them two months ago. Freed Kamaiyas of Baitadi district have urged the government to initiate a process at the earliest to rehabilitate them. The former bonded labourers were speaking at an interaction organised by Haliya Mukti Samaj, Baitadi chapter. Samaj secretary Hari Ram Tamta called on the state to rehabilitate the freed Kamaiyas at the earliest. Stating that the rehabilitation process is being prolonged, he said, “We should not be left stranded. Our woes should be addressed in right earnest.” Representatives of parties, government bodies, civil society and intellectuals also called on the government to rehabilitate the freed Kamiyas. — RSS

Tarai crime report

Itahari: Armed outfits operating in the Tarai have killed 24 civilians during the last six months, according to a report. The report, prepared by human rights organisations, said the armed groups had abducted some persons for the sake of money and killed those refusing to pay the amount. The outfits killed some persons due to feuds, the report said. According to INSEC, 12 persons were murdered in Sunsari district in the last six months. Armed outfits active in the Tarai have claimed responsibility for the killings. Twelve persons were killed in Morang district during the same period, the report said. In the name of armed agitation, the armed groups have been abducting, murdering and terrorising people in Sunsari and Morang, it said. According to businessmen, the armed groups have intensified extortion in industrial zones. — RSS

Forest policy blasted

LAHAN,: Participants at a programme held here on Friday said the government’s policy on community forests had benefited timber smugglers. Speaking at the inauguration of the second conference of Forest Technical Centre, Siraha district committee, in Lahan, the participants said the community forest policy was responsible for deforestation and decline of forest resources in 20 districts of the Tarai. They said the decade-old decision of the government to hand over the management of forests to people living around the forest handed the control over the forests to smugglers. They said the government’s wrong policy led to deforestation in the Chure region on the northern side of the East-West Highway. At the programme inaugurated by chief of district forest office Surya Narayan Chaudhary, central president of Nepal Ranger Association called on the government to roll back the decision to release community forests as it would handover the forests to smugglers. — RSS