Doctor abduction: Questions linger

Executive Director of BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital Dr Bhaktaman Shrestha was finally released after being kept hostage for 19 days but the mystery surrounding the abduction does not end there. Many critical questions regarding the high-profile kidnapping, which went on to grab national headlines, beg to be answered. Though the doctor after being set free revealed that he had been abducted by a never-heard-before group called the Nepal Hindu Janata Party (NHJP), as opposed to initial reports by the media (particularly Republica and Nagarik) that he was taken hostage by the Maoist party following his differences with top party leader Ram Bahadur Thapa, questions remain on the veracity of the doctor’s claim.



First, we are yet to be told why Dr Shrestha was abducted by NHJP when they have neither demanded ransom from his family nor claimed responsibility for the act. Surely, the NHJP party think tank (if they exist at all) did not wake up one fine morning and decide to abduct someone for no rhyme or reason. Second, why did NHJP target Dr Shrestha and not someone else? Why did a party that plans go public in one-and-a-half years indulge in such an act now? Until the public is not given plausible answers to such questions, they will continue to believe that there is much more to the abduction saga than meets the eye.



Meanwhile, what was the Nepal Police doing for 19 days? Whither goes their intelligence? A doctor is abducted from the heart of Chitwan town and is kept hostage within the country for nearly three weeks but they showed no signs at all of nabbing down the perpetrators. Can we expect them to display any semblance of competence when they have to handle low-profile cases away from the glare of the media? Are we to believe that the Home Ministry’s claim that law and order has improved in recent times is nothing but mere hogwash?



A Maoist meeting Sunday has charged that there were ill-intended attempts to establish the party’s involvement in the kidnapping. Well, if they are indeed clean, those who had charged the Maoists of being involved in the case, including our dailies, should be ready to stand corrected and even tender a public apology but we think that it is still too early to absolve the party of their involvement. As of now, we stand by our claim and will leave no stones unturned to bring out the truth before the public.



The police may have failed in discharging its duties so far but in the days ahead they must tighten up their belts and lay bare the facts about Dr Shrestha’s kidnapping before the public. Likewise, Maoist leader Amik Sherchan also has a duty as a politician to reveal the identity of abductors he claims to have known during investigations by the Maoist probe team he led.The nation, which stood behind Dr Shrestha and his family for 19 grueling days, also hopes that they would return the favor by giving out any information that they may be privy to so that the case is solved once and for all and perpetrators meted out exemplary punishment.

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