Dhakal attacked on 'instruction from leader'

BIRATNAGAR, June 16: Preliminary investigation into the attack on Republica´s Biratnagar correspondent Khilanath Dhakal by Youth Force (YF) cadres has shown that the attack was carried out under clear instructions from "leader".



Morang District Attorney Punya Prasad Pathak on Wednesday said the arrested duo Rohit Koirala and Manoj Rai of CPN-UML-affiliated Youth Force (YF) admitted to him on Wednesday that they attacked Dhakal. [break]



"Rai confessed during interrogation that he informed his ´leader´ about the attack who subsequently advised him to flee," Pathak said. But Rai refused to identify who the leader was. Meanwhile, Koirala also confessed that he made phone calls and talked to Rai while he was thrashing Dhakal.



Journalist Dhakal has calimed that Koirala instructed Rai on the phone to finish him off and throw away his body.



District Attorney Pathak also said there were some discrepancies in the statements given by Rai and Koirala but there were enough indications that they attacked Dhakal under someone´s instructions.



Though the district attorney has recorded statements of Rai and Koirala, Parshuram Basnet, the mastermind behind the June 5 attack on Dhakal, is still absconding.



Dhakal was mercilessly thrashed for writing news stories about an attack on Abhishek Giri by YF men on the premises of Morang District Court on June 1.



Immediately after the attack, Basnet had organized a press meet claiming responsibility for the incident.



No objection to Basnet´s arrest: UML



Meanwhile, the Morang district president of the CPN (UML), the mother party of the Youth Force (YF), Binod Dhakal, on Wednesday made a volte-face by saying that his party would not oppose if Parshuram Basnet is brought to book.



“The attack (on journalist Dhakal) can not be taken lightly,” Dhakal said at a function organized by the Morang chapter of Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) on Wednesday. “The perpetrator must be punished.” Dhakal changed his statement amidst criticisms against his alleged role in protecting Basnet.



Shiva Kumar Mandal, Morang district in-charge of the UCPN (Maoists), asked the CPN (UML) to cooperate in arresting Basnet. “The situation will remain tense unless Basnet is brought to book,” he said.



Nepali Congress (NC) Morang President Amrit Aryal asked journalists to continue with their protests without politicizing the incident.

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