A group of 22 journalists who were displaced from the district last month after threat by the Maoists and had returned to the district a few days ago after security assurances by the local authorities, said the Maoist cadres and YCL activists are still issuing threats.[break]
The chief district officer and the chief of the District Police Office during a meeting with the representatives of the Federation of Nepali Journalists in Dailekh on Sunday expressed their commitment launch new security strategy to provide security to the journalists in the district.
FNJ Dailekh district chapter had organized a discussion regarding journalist´s safty with CDO Homnath Thapaliya and District police chief DSP Madhav Prasad Shrestha. Speaking on the occasion, CDO Adhikari said that the administration will bring a special security strategy for journalists´ safety.
Journalists at the function said some suspicious individuals have been following journalists in the district so the administration should work seriously to provide security to journalists.
DSP Shrestha on the occasion informed that police would devise new security plan to provide safety to local journalists and media houses in near future.
Earlier, UCPN (Maoist) cadres had threatened to kill local reporters after the latter actively participated in the pressure camapign to bring those involved in Dekendra Thapa´s murder to book. The journalists said despite security assurances from the local administration and the political parties, they cannot walk freely in the district.
Meanwhile, CPN-Maoist has announced Bheri and Karnali zone shutdown for February 8-9 stating that its cadres were being unfairly implicated in Thapa´s murder.
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