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Nepal : Maoists on the rampage |
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In the worst ever violence in the troubled Himalayan kingdom of Nepal since the massacre of the royal family on June 1, Maoist rebels shot dead some 40 policemen and a civilian in a string of deadly attacks on security posts on the eve of the new King Gyanendra’s birthday on July 6. Twentyone policemen were killed In Bichour in Lamjung, 150 km west of Kathmandu while nine more were shot dead at Taruka in Nuwakot district. A further eight police officers and a civilian were gunned down in Gulmi in west Nepal. Officials in Kathmandu said all the three attacks were carried out late in the night on the same day by suspected members of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) which is pledged to overthrow the Constitutional Monarchy in Nepal. In Kathmandu itself, two bombs exploded near the homes of Prime Minister Koirala and Supreme Court Justice Keshavprasad Upadhaya, who headed the two-member enquiry commission which blamed Crown Prince Dipendra for the killing of his family. The Maoists have rejected the findings and alleged that there was an international conspiracy to eliminate the Birendra family. The Maoists have refused to recognize King Gyanendra who, they say, was a part of the conspiracy. The Maoists struck again on July 12 killing at least two and abducting 68 people from the Halleri police post in Rolpa. They also torched a bus plying from Kathmandu to eastern Nepal. The attacks came in the run up to the nationwide call given by the rebel Maoists.
The Maoists again shot and killed the most senior police officer in five years when they ambushed the vehicle of a senior Superintendent of Police, Parmeswor Sijapati, while he was travelling through a jungle near the town of Ghori. In another attack, a small device exploded at the house of Prime Minister Koirala’s daughter, Sujata Koirala. No one was injured in the blast which, however, damaged a part of the boundary wall.
The Maoist rebels who model themselves on the shining path guerillas of Peru, specialise in hit-and-run attacks against police posts at night. About 1700 people have been killed since the guerillas began their bloody campaign in early 1996. Nepal’s concern with an increasing violent rebellion saw a 14 per cent increase in security spending in the annual budget presented to Parliament on July 9. Deputy Prime Minister Ramchandra Poudel has said the Government is ready to hold talks with the Maoist rebels to end their anti-government insurgency. There is, however, so far no response from the Maoist leader called Parchand.
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