Birgunj, September 15 :

Claiming that the Maoists have begun collecting road tax after threatening its staff, Sunita Constructions, which was awarded the contract for collecting road tax for the current fiscal year in Parsa, today wrote to the Parsa District Development Committee (DDC), asking for the refund of its deposit amount.

The company, in the first installment, deposited Rs 6,14,000 at the DDC. According to the DDC, the firm was awarded the contract on a bidding amount of Rs 16,73,262. “As our firm has stopped collecting tax following the Maoists’ threat,” contractor Binod Prasad Rauniyar told journalists, “We have demanded the refund of our deposit.”

The Maoists have put up obstructions at different posts and on roads in the district and began collecting tax, said deputy head of the Maoist’s district people’s government, PL Shrestha.

However, Rauniyar accused the Maoists of using his firm’s bills for collecting the road tax. Now that the Maoists have begun collecting road tax, the source of revenue for the DDC has been blocked almost entirely, planning officer of the Parsa DDC, Keshav Prasad Bimali, said.