KATHMANDU, July 29: A Maoist commander, who was arrested with a pistol with ´UNMIN sticker´ while trying to enter into Singha Durbar, was released after a couple of hours on Wednesday.
A highly placed UNMIN source said UNMIN did not give any report about the legitimacy of the weapon carried out by the commander. "The representatives only went and took the details. No exact word was said," the source told myrepublica.com.
Ram Kumar Paudel, 24, a company commander of Shaktikhor Camp in Chitwan, was arrested at 1:30 p.m. with a Chinese pistol loaded with seven bullets at the main gate of Singha Durbar. Maoists claimed that Paudel is an authorized holder of UNMIN-verified weapon as a bodyguard of former minister Hisila Yami.
After a policeman found him with a pistol with a ´UNMIN sticker´, the police unit at Singha Durbar took hold of him and taken to Metropolitan Police Workforce Office at Nepal Police Club, Exhibition Road.
UNMIN´s three officials went there and spent some 45 minutes inquiring about Paudel and his weapon. "UNMIN doubts about its legitimacy as there is a mounting suspicion that there are a lots of weapons with fake stickers possessed by Maoists," the source said. "It could be confirmed only after tallying the details of the weapon with the record kept at UNMIN office."
The source, however, could not say how Paudel was released without UNMIN´s confirmation whether the pistol he was carrying was legitimate.
Metropolitan Police handed over Paudel to PLA representatives in the evening. Maoists claim that Paudel was to go to Singha Durbar to get a letter on Yami´s behalf.
Chief of Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu Navaraj Silwal said Paudel was released after UNMIN gave confirmation about the weapon.
Meanwhile, a police source claimed UNMIN did not show any interest to take the matter to its office and rather preferred to end it on the spot.
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