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20 armed PLA men held, freed
Last Updated : 2009-08-25 12:15 AM
Krishna Prasad Dhakal
KAPILVASTU: Twenty People’s Liberation Army (PLA) personnel were arrested with a cache of arms and ammunition at Jitpur in Kapilvastu today. The police have seized nine different makes of sophisticated weapons from them. The detained PLA members maintained that the seized weapons bore the sticker of United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN).
The ex-rebels belong to Sainamaina and Jhyaltungdanda camps, in Rupandehi and Nawalparasi,
respectively.
Kapilvastu Chief District Officer (CDO) Nagendra Jha said that the PLA members were held on charges of moving around with arms in clear violation of the peace process.
A joint team, comprising Nepal Police and Armed Police Force personnel, hemmed in the combatants, who were on their way to their
respective camps from Bhalubang in Dang.
A heated argument broke out when the police tried to detain the fighters, who had left their camps at 4 this morning. The security personnel had to use force to overpower them. Shakti, deputy commander, Jhyaltungdanda camp, along with 10 of his colleagues and nine others from the Sainamaina camp are in police custody. They have been lodged at the District Administration Office (DAO) at Taulihawa along with three of their vehicles. The DAO said that the police had seized the following: three SMGs along with 130 rounds of bullets, three INSAS rifles and 294 rounds of bullets, one SLR and 57 rounds of bullets, a gun and 125 rounds of bullets and a
pistol and 30 rounds of bullets.
Incidentally, five PLA personnel, including Surya Bahadur Gharti
Magar, commander, Sainamaina camp, have managed to give the
police a slip. Sources claimed that they had already reached their camp.
Shakti alleged that the police manhandled them while they were returning from Bhalubang.
“We had gone out of the camps as per the party’s order. We’re told to
escort Prachanda, who arrived in Nepalgunj yesterday. Later, the plan was changed. We left Bhalubang once we came to know that our chairman has left for the capital by flight,” he said. “Nobody has the right to carry weapons. To make matters worse, these PLA personnel failed to convince why they were travelling with arms and ammunition,” said the CDO.
Meanwhile, the detained PLA fighters were released in presence of Nepalgunj-based UNMIN representative, Claudia Feola, late this evening. “It’s a serious violation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement,” Feola said, adding that the UNMIN would seriously look into the matter.
Posted on: 2009-08-25 08:55:24
It is good to learn that the Police has had the courage to arrest weapon carrying combatants of the Maoist party. They should not only be held but held for at least a year in the prison with hard labor. The weapons should be confiscated and deposited with the state armory. Unless the Maoist completely abandon their weapons and their combatants, they simply cannot be trusted. I fail to understand why does the Maoist party need so much security when he says his party has people's mandate? If they think have people's mandate and people are with them, then should be able to walk free without much security like any other political person does in Nepal. After all they are now under the democratic process. According to me, the Maoists though they claim to have the majority of people's vote are still not confident without their arms. Majority of the votes received in the last elections have been through spread of terror than competence. Koshal R Bhandary, USA