Siraha, August 29, 2007

Cadres of the Young Communist League went on the rampage today, vandalising a police van and looting police weapons in Choharwa of Siraha district.

The furore erupted after a patrol from the Adhar base camp at Sukhipur arrested seven Maoists, including former people’s government district chief Bishnudev Yadav, for carrying weapons.

Police arrested Bishnudev Yadav, Anant Kumar Yadav, Shambhu Chaudhari, Bimal Kumar Thapa and Bijay Kumar Thakur from Nimchowk in Phulhakatti-9 VDC of the district after a search of the tipper they were on. They were carrying two pistols, a countrymade gun and some rounds of ammunition. Tipper driver Ram Bhagat Mahato and helper Binod Chaudhari were also arrested.

YCL cadres went on the rampage after the seven Maoists were arrested. The police weapons were looted after a police team from Golbazaar reached Choharwa to quell the situation, said the Golbazaar area police office.

DSP Mingmar Lama said the YCL cadres looted four .303 rifles and 115 rounds of ammunition from the police team. The police van was damaged by the YCL cadres. Police, however, managed to recover one .303 rifle from the looters. YCL district president Jagat Yadav said his party cadres snatched three rifles and ammunition from the police.

Yadav alleged that the police laid a trap for YCL cadres and arrested them when they had gone to visit relatives. He called for unconditional release of YCL cadres, adding that the YCL would otherwise begin an agitation against police administration.

No info on 1,042 missing persons: ICRC

Kathmandu, August 29, 2007

The number of disappeared persons in the country has topped thousand and the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) has put the figure at 1,042. Mary Werntz, head of ICRC delegation to Nepal, told mediapersons here on the eve of International Day of Disappeared: “The ICRC list of missing persons published in February had 812 names.

With more families reporting cases of disappearance, the ICRC has revised the figure to 1,042.” She said the figure may have to be revised again. She blamed 10-year-old conflict in the country for the slew of disappearance cases. “The government of Nepal has not yet fulfilled its obligations under international humanitarian law to the thousands of families of missing persons, who still do not know whether their relatives were dead or alive,” she lamented. Jean-Paul Carboz, ICRC protection officer, said though the government of Nepal was planning a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, there should be a separate commission on missing persons. “The eight-party government should form the commission on missing persons as per the Peace Accord signed by the government and the Maoists in accordance with the spirit of Interim Constitution of Nepal-2007,” he added.