Twenty-one NA soldiers booked

BARDIYA: A complaint has been lodged with the District Police Office, Bardiya, today claiming that 21 Nepali Army personnel including Lieutenant Subodh Kunwar of Jayala Dal Battalion were involved in the Banspani incident in Bardiya National Park, where two women and a child were killed three weeks ago.

The complaint has been filed by Tikaram Sunar, brother-in-law of Devisara Sunar who was killed in the incident.

Devisara Sunar (27), Amrita Sunar (22) and Chandrakala Sunar (12) of Hariharpur-2, Surkhet were killed.

The NA has been claiming that they were killed in retaliation. But the locals and human rights organisations claim that NA men had killed the women after arresting them. Meanwhile, a nine-member team of lawmakers under the coordination of Sandhya Dev of the Legislative-Parliament, who had come to Surkhet to probe the incident, met Regional Administrator Dhanraj Ratala, Surkhet Chief District Officer Basudev Dahal and security chiefs in the district. The team also met locals in Gulariya and Thakurdwara on Monday.

Lawmaker Binod Pahadi said that not much information could be collected from the locals as the incident took place inside the Bardiya National Park. The team will also

go to the Banspani area tomorrow.