BIHAR COURT ISSUES NON-BAILABLE ARREST WARRANTS AGAINST 11 MAOISTS

FIRE DESTROYS ASSETS WORTH 4 MILLION

Kathmandu, 16 Sept.: A fire at Yunisha Colour Factory at Katunje-4 in Bhaktapur Thursday caused extensive damage.
Assets worth four million were damaged by the fire.
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BIHAR COURT RE-ISSES NON-BAILABLE ARREST WARRANTS AGAINST 11 MAOISTS
Kathmandu, 16 Sept.: A court in Bihar on Thursday re-issued non-bailable warrants against 11 UCPN (Maoist) leaders, who were arrested in Patna in 2004 for their alleged involvement in anti-Indian activities, Mahesh Acharya reports in The Kathmandu Post from Patna, Bihar.
The warrants were issued again by Additional District Court Judge Bashishtha Narayan Singh, government lawyer KP Singh said.
A Patna Sessions Court had first issued the non-bailable warrants against the Maoist leaders in December 2006. The hearing, however, did not progress as the Maoists joined the peace process and some of the defendants went on to become ministers and parliamentarians.
The court’s decision to renew the warrants after a long hiatus has elicited many doubts and suspicions. A source at the court said the move was possibly prompted by the controversy drawn by the case in recent times.
Singh, however, argued that as long as the case remains unsettled, the court could take such decisions any time.
“It is up to the court to decide when a warrant can be re-issued. As for the controversy related to the Maoist leaders, it is a mere coincidence,” he said.
Meanwhile, a source close to Judge Bashishtha Narayan Singh said a top ranking police official in Patna refused to acknowledge the warrants, saying that the warrants issued by the court did not fall under his jurisdiction.
Mithilesh Kumar, the legal representative of the defendants, said the case pending against the Maoist leaders could be dropped if the Nepal government made a ‘diplomatic appeal’ to India. He claimed that the charges pressed against his clients were weak.
“The charge of treason is levelled against the Maoist leaders who are from Nepal. How could a citizen from a different country be tried for treason in an Indian court? The charge can hold up only if the defendant is an Indian national,” he said.
In May 2004, Gandhi Maidan Police of Patna had arrested the 11 Maoist leaders—Chitra Bahadur Shrestha, Lokendra Bista, Kul Bahadur KC, Kumar Dahal, Hit Bahadur Tamang, Anil Sharma, Dilip Maharjan, Ranju Thapa, Suman Tamang, Shyam Kishor Prasad Yadav and Min Prasad—from five different hotels.
They were sent in judicial custody in Beur jail in Patna and later to Buxar jail. They were released on bail in June 2006.
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PM BHATTARAI’S DIRECTIVE TO RETURN SEIZED ASSETS OPPOSED BY MAOIST PARTY
Kathmandu, 16 Sept.: Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai's statement on Tuesday directing his party, the UCPN (Maoist), and the government bodies to return the properties seized by the party during the insurgency has irked a section of leaders in the party, The Kathmandu Post reports.
A press statement issued on Thursday by Maoist leaders affiliated with the party's sister wings has denounced the prime minister's statement. The leaders, who flayed the PM's directives, include the general secretary of Aadibasi Janajati Kshetriya Mahasangh, Suresh Ale Magar; chairman of All Nepal Teachers' Association, Gunaraj Lohani; coordinator of Nepa Rastriya Dalit Mukti Morcha, Tilak Pariyar and the chairman of Federation of All United Nepali Culture, Ishwar Chandra Gyawali.
Similarly, Maoist lawmaker Ek Raj Bhandari and All Nepal Progressive Public Health Professionals' Association Chairman Mangal BK, Rastriya Udhyog Byapar Mahasangh Chairman Shiva Kattel and All Nepal Farmers' Federation (Revolutionary) Chairman Nanda Budha have denounced Bhattarai's move.
“The land that we seized during the insurgency is efforts of poor farmers,” read the statement signed by eight Maoist leaders. “Landlords, with the oppressive mentality, had registered the land in their names by cheating the poor peasants.” The statement added, “Seizures were made to help the needy farmers, not to return them back to rich landlords.”
Claiming that the prime minister's statement was against the party's ideology, the release said that properties should not be returned until a land reform policy was actively enacted in the country.
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