INDIA SUPPLIES NA WITH 109 VEHICLES

INDIA SUPPLIES 109 VEHICLES TO NA

Kathmandu, 13 Aug.: India has supplied Nepal Army (NA) with d. 109 vehicles, NA Public Relations Directorate said.
India is NA’s main weapons supplier.
Thirty seven tonne trucks, twenty 2.5 tonne trucks, 24 mine protected vehicles along with 35 military jeeps have crossed the border into Nepal.
India banned sales of lethal military weapons during the royal regime.
Some weapon supplies have resumed indicating improved bilateral relations.
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TWO CHINESE ARRESTED WITH UNANCCOUNTED MONEY

Kathmandu, 13 Aug.: Two Chinese nationals with unaccounted Rs.3.1 million at Tribhuvan Interational Airport (TIA) Friday.
The money was not declared at the immigration counter.
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THE HIMALAYAN TIMES SCRIBE ATTACKED BY HOOLIGAN

Kathmandu, 13 Aug.: A hooligan, whom police described as a history sheeter, and his accomplice launched a brutal attack on Sankhuwasabha-based journalist of The Himalayan Times and Annapurna Post yesterday night, leaving him seriously injured, Rajan Bhattarai and Ratna Acharya write in The Himalayan Times from Biratnagar.

According to police, Bikas Rai of Khandbari and his accomplice Rupak Rai had attacked Budhathoki with sharp weapons at around 9 pm yesterday.

Budhathoki has got bruises all over his body and his arm dislocated. He is undergoing treatment at Biratnagar-based Nobel Medical College. Doctors at Nobel Medical College described Budhathoki’s condition as critical.

According to police, the prime assaulter Bikas is a ‘professional criminal’ who had served jail terms several times in the past.

Sankhuwasabha DSP Ganesh Chand said six teams of Nepal Police and a joint team comprising NP and Armed Police Force personnel have been deployed to search and arrest the attackers. “Action will be initiated against the perpetrators,” pledged Chand. Sankhuwasabha CDO Kailashnath Kharel said all the political parties in the district have expressed willingness to help the administration to arrest the attackers.

It has been learnt that Rai assaulted Budhathoki over a news report aired on Khandbari FM, which was based on Budhathoki’s comments on violence against women about a month ago. Budhathoki’s statement also had the reference of disputes between Bikas and his wife.

Rights activists in the district say Budhathoki’s speech had piqued Bikas’ anger and he wreaked his vengeance on Budhathoki by assaulting him brutally.

Locals say Rai in the past had thrashed his wife, who left him on July 17 after her request to chargesheet Rai was turned down by police.
'I UNDERSTAND THEY WANTED TO KILL ME’
SAYS KISHOR BUDHATHOKI
I had just reached my rented apartment in Khandbari at around 9pm yesterday. As I was getting ready for dinner, my phone rang and I walked out of my room to the street and got busy in the conversation with him.

Then I saw Bikas Rai and Rupak Rai coming towards me. Both of them asked me if I could go for a walk with them. They were under the influence of alcohol. I refused, but they held me and forced me to walk towards a meadow nearby.

Then I spotted that Bikas was carrying a weapon. Anyway, Bikas is a professional criminal here and fearing that my refusal might land me in trouble, I kept walking along with them. No sooner had we reached a gorge near Tundikhel than both of them began assaulting me. First they punched me here and there and then out of the blue I felt excruciating pain; they attacked me with a khukuri. Had I not ducked in the nick of time, they would have chopped my head off. “Aren’t you the one who was raising an issue between a husband and his wife in the public?” they asked, as their brutality continued.

I passed out soon after. If my memory serves me correctly, Bikas was asking Rupak to dump my body in my room. I think they presumed me dead. By the time I regained consciousness today morning, my sisters had already left for the college. I called Yogendra BK, who along with Chhetu Sherpa, came to meet me. I have no enmity with the perpetrators. But I think they wanted to kill me over a news report aired on a local FM about a month ago. The news included my statement as well in which I had spoken about violence against women at a public programme in the district.
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