TWO KILLED, 18 INJURED IN DURECT COLLISION BETWEEN BUSES Kathmandu, 17 Dec.: Two passengers were killed Monday morning and 18 others were injured at Danda in Nawalparasi district along the Mahendra highway. A woman in among the killed One bus was going to Butwal from Narayangadh The buses collided head-on. nnnn . ORDERS TO SHOOT KILLER ELEPHANT Kathmandu, 17 Dec.: : Soldiers in Nepal are on the hunt for a wild elephant after it strayed into villages in the southern part of the Himalayan nation and killed four people in three months, officials said on Monday, AFP reports from Kathmandu.. The elephant walked into a thatched house in Gardi village adjoining Chitwan National Park, 82 km (50 miles) south of Kathmandu on Saturday, pulled an elderly couple from bed and trampled them to death, said Shiva Ram Gelal, assistant district administrator from Bharatpur, the nearest city. Park officials say the same beast killed two other villagers fewer than three months ago. "We have given orders to the army to shoot the elephant that has gone mad," Gelal told Reuters. "Soldiers are now searching for it." Nepal has about 300 elephants, including more than 100 domesticated ones which are used by hotels and national parks to take tourists on jungle ride to watch wild animals like one-horned Asian rhinoceroses and Royal Bengal Tigers. Elephants are protected by law and anyone convicted for killing one faces up to 15 years in jail, but Gelal said the Local Administration Act, a Nepali law, allowed authorities to kill the animal if it was responsible for the loss of human life. Nnnn UDMF MAY BOYCOTT NEW GOVT. Kathmandu, 17 Dec.: United Democratic Madhesi Front, a key ally of the Baburam Bhattarai-led coalition government may boycott the national consensus government to be formed if the front did not get its pound of flesh in the new deal and the government, Ram Kumar Kamat writes in The Himalayan Times.. The UDMF is likely to ask the Nepali Congress, which is a strong contender for the new government to clarify its position on federalism and the four-point deal that the front reached with the UCPN-M that helped form Bhattarai-led government. The NC, CPN-UML and the Mohan Baidhya faction of the Maoist party had termed the four-point deal ‘anti-national.’ If NC stuck to its old stance of dividing Madhes into five pradeshes, UDMF might not support NC President Sushil Koirala for premiership. “We cannot support a new deal without settling the issue of federalism,” said Rameshwor Roy Yadav, Vice Chairman, Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum-Democratic. “A new agreement should resolve all outstanding issues,” he added. Madhesi leaders have been saying that the 14, 10 and six-pradesh models that were proposed in the dissolved Constituent Assembly should be the property of the apex body and the next CA should choose one of these three models. “We can go for two pradeshes in Madhes but not more,” Yadav added. One of the chiefs of Madhesi parties that are the constituents of UDMF said the front was conscious of not spoiling parties’ effort to forge consensus, but it cannot surrender to opposition parties. “The four-point agreement and federalism are our major concerns. We will demand our rights,” the leader said and added that if the front did not get its due share in the new deal, the front could stay away from the new government. “We might sit in the opposition and contest the election making our concerns as our election plank,” the leader added. Another leader of the UDMF offered contrasting views. He said the front should be ready to be flexible because the prime concern should be to frame a new constitution through a new CA for which elections must be held by mid-May. NC Spokesperson Dilendra Prasad Badu said if UDMF had any concerns, his party would dwell on them and form an official position. “But our understanding is to hold fresh elections, remove legal and constitutional difficulties to hold elections and form a new unity government,” he added. “Parties should not ratchet up new issues particularly those issues that proved to be contentious in the dissolved CA. If we seek resolution to contentious issues, why should there be fresh CA elections?” he asked. Nnnn DOMESTIC HELPERS HELD WITH CASH Kathmandu, 17 Dec.: Sleuths from Metropolitan Police Range, Hanumandhoka nabbed two persons including a woman, who were on the run after stealing cash and valuables from the house of Lazimpat-based businessman Rajendra Ghiraiya, The Himalayan Times reports.. They were arrested from Chakhel Jhyaindanda in Makwanpur yesterday. The arrested are Loknath Sapkota, 39, of Kusahadevi, Kavre and Reshma Rai, 26, of Sane, Dhankuta, who were employed as domestic helpers in 62-year-old Ghiraiya’s house. They were made public today at a press meet in Hanumandhoka. A police team arrested the duo from Sapkota’s in-laws’ house, where they were hiding. SP Ganesh Bahadur Thapa said, Sapkota and Rai had made three duplicate keys of a cupboard and stolen cash, diamond, gold jewellery and antique coins worth six million rupees when the family members were away for the day’s business. Sapkota was cook at Ghiraiya’s house, while Rai was a cleaner hired just one-and-half month ago. Sapkota, who was the mastermind behind the theft, had convinced Ghiraiya’s family to employ Rai saying women took better care of the household than men. Sapkota conceded he had hatched the plan to steal the cash and jewellery and he took Rai’s help to execute his plan. “We had planned to sell the diamond jewellery and share the cash between us. Rai and myself were hiding at my in-laws’ house,” Sapkota said. “I had first met Rai four years ago when my wife had given birth to a child. At that time, she had looked after my wife and newborn,” he added. Police have recovered INR 80,000, US$ 400, 30 antique coins (100 to 200 years old), a Rolex watch, a Titan watch, an NK6 watch, a Swatch watch, a Rado watch, a CK watch and a cache of gold and diamond ornaments. nnnn