Kathmandu, November 4:

The police said today that Maoist cadres Kundan Phaujdar, Ram Ekwal Sahani, Lal Bahadur Chaudhari and Hareram Patel had kidnapped Bara-based journalist Birendra Kumar Shah on October 5.

Shah, who is also a central member of the Press Chautari Nepal, and his friend Ramdev Das were having tea at Pipra Bazaar when the Maoist cadres Phaujdar and Sahani came to them and asked them to go with them to cover news about irregularities in the Forest Management Committee.

Sahani sat on the backseat of Das’s motorcycle whereas Phaujdar sat on the backseat of Shah’s motorcycle. “When the journalists started driving the motorcycles, the two Maoist cadres pointed pistols on the scribes’ temple and took them to Sakhuwa. Maoist cadres freed Das after severely beating him but took Shah away with them,” DIG KB Rana said while making public the police report at a press conference today.

He said the police were trying to conduct DNA test on the body that was found at a jungle in Amlekhgunj to check whether it was Shah’s body. “We are trying to send blood samples to India to check if Shah’s DNA matches with the DNA of the body found in the jungle,” he added.

Rana said Maoist cadres Lal Bahadur Chaudhary and Hareram Patel had a land dispute with Shah and there is evidence to prove that Chaudhary and Patel were involved in Shah’s abduction.

A daily published from Birgunj has claimed that journalist Birendra Shah, who was abducted on October 5, was killed the same day. Pratik daily ran a report today, saying that in-charge of Bara area-4 of the CPN (Maoist), Lal Bahadur Chaudhary, had beaten Shah. According to the daily, Chaudhary told a journalist from Birgunj from an undisclosed destination in India that Shah was buried in a jungle in Ratanpuri VDC in Bara.

With his hands tied, Shah was beaten, the report said, adding he was kept in a dilapidated house in the jungle thereafter. Shah passed out, the daily said, adding that he was again beaten after he gained consciousness in the evening.

Those involved in the incident said Shah was buried without confirming his death. Chaudhary claimed he acted under the direction of a person from Sapahi in Bara. The person used to work as arms dealer to the Maoists, the report quoted Chaudhary as saying, adding that he supplies arms to fighters of the JTMM factions these days. The arms supplier gave money to Chaudhary to kill Shah for covering a report on arms deal, the daily said without disclosing the name of the arms dealer.