Previously, the District Attorney´s Office had stopped recording statements of the accused reportedly under “direct pressure” from Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai. At a function in Kathmandu on Tuesday, PM Bhattarai had said that the Maoist cadres were arrested “at the backing of human rights activists against the spirit of Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA)”, which made the locals of Dailekh believe that he indeed pressed the police and public prosecutors investigating Thapa´s murder to halt recording of statements and release the accused. [break]
In addition to organizing protest rallies against PM Bhattarai´s remarks, the locals of Dailekh also blocked all vehicles from leaving and entering the district headquarters for two hours on Wednesday. They also burnt PM Bhattarai´s effigies, accusing him of trying to let the culprits off the hook.
At a corner meeting organized in Devkota Chowk of Dailekh, local leaders of Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN (UML) asked PM Bhattarai to recall the Dullu revolt, in which Maoist cadres involved in atrocities against the locals were chased away.
Following demonstrations by the locals, the District Attorney´s Office recorded statements of one more accused on Wednesday. According to investigation officer Binod Sharma, public prosecutors recorded statements of Nirak Bahadur Gharti Magar, of Baulwatar VDC-9 in Dailekh district.
Earlier, statements of Lakshi Ram Gharti Magar, of Dwari-1 of Dailekh, were recorded on Sunday. Now, public prosecutors need to record statements of three more accused. “Statements of the rest of the accused will also be recorded on Thursday,” said Sharma.
The District Police Office of Dailekh has arrested Jay Bahadur Shahi, of Raniban VDC-1, Bir Bahadur KC, of Baluwatar-7, and Harilal Pun, of Dwari VDC-3, apart from the Gharti Magar duo in connection with Thapa´s murder. One of the accused, in his preliminary statement, has already revealed that they thrashed Thapa and buried him alive. Thapa, who was working as a reporter for Radio Nepal, was abducted and killed in August, 2004. The police had arrested no one for eight years since Thapa´s murder.
Three of the four people against whom Thapa´s wife Laxmi had lodged a written complaint are still at large. Only Lakshi Ram Gharti Magar has been arrested so far. Four of the five Maoist cadres arrested by the police this week were nabbed on the basis of Lakhsi Ram´s statement.
On Wednesday, main areas of Dailekh district remained tense. Large numbers of police personnel were deployed in Dailekh and Naumule to avoid any untoward incident. More police personnel were called in from Surkhet following rumors that Maoist cadres were planning to storm police offices.
Meanwhile, local journalists have complained that they have not been able to go to villages fearing possible attacks by the Maoists. "We have been confined to the district headquarters,” said Bishnu Kumar Shahi, secretary of the Dailekh chapter of Federation of Nepalese Journalist (FNJ).
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