Maoist combatants arrested on charge of robbery

SURKHET, July 10: Police have arrested two Maoist combatants Saturday night on the charge of carrying out robbery in the house of one Moti Prasad Chapain in Dasharathpur-9, Pitedanda last month.



Narendra Rokaya of the Purna-Jharana Memorial Brigade of the Sixth Division and disqualified combatant Lakshman -- staying at the camp despite disqualification -- have been nabbed for the June 11 robbery while search is on for absconding two current and two former Maoist combatants, according to the police.[break]



Superintendent of Police (SP) at the District police Office Govinda Pariyar said the six accused had robbed five tola gold, three and half tola silver, three cell phones and Rs 15,000 from Chapain´s house. SP Pariyar identified the other four as Janasagar of the Seven Number Battalion of the Purna-Jharana Memorial Brigade, Bikash of Ghorahi-Satbariya of the same brigade, and former combatants Bikash Rokaya of Srinagar, Humla, and Nabin of Jajarkot.



SP Pariyar said Deputy Division Commander Durga Bahadur Chaudhary visited the District Police Office Sunday morning to inquire about the arrested duo and promised to help investigations after being briefed about the robbery.



Lakshman said he was staying alternatively at the Purna-Jharana Memorial Brigade and Ghorahi-Satbariya Brigade for accommodation and food despite his disqualification while Narendra Rokaya claimed that he has not received any allowance for the past 15 months.



“The government sends allowances on my name but I have not received a penny for the past 15 months as punishment for going to attend my sick mother without taking permission,” Narendra Rokaya said in front of Chief District Officer (CDO) of Surkhet Hari Krishna Poudel.



The arrested duo has confessed to have taken the loot to the Purna-Jharana Memorial Brigade after the midnight robbery and claimed the other four took all the valuables giving them only Rs 1,000 each. They claimed that the weapons used in the robbery were not from the camp.



According to the police, robbery and other criminal activities in the area around the camp has been increasing since last September. “There have been three big and a few small robberies in the area since last September and we are close to solving some of the cases,” SP Pariyar claimed.

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