KATHMANDU, Sept 13: Nine Maoist lawmakers affiliated to the National Dalit Liberation Front of Nepal (NDLFN) were held on Sunday morning for staging protests in the prohibited area at Singha Darbar. The NDLFN has been demanding special rights for the Dalit community. [break]
However, when the police freed them, the Maoist lawmakers refused to leave police custody till 2:15 pm. “We said they were free to go but they refused to leave,” DSP Surendra Bahadur Singh, chief of Metropolitan Police Task Force, told myrepublica.com. Meanwhile, the local administration and Metropolitan Police in a press meet clarified that the police identified them as CA members only when they had been taken to the Nepal Police Club.
“We immediately set them free as the CA members had to attend the parliament,” said Chief District Officer Bhola Shiwakoti. The arrested lawmakers were Tilak Pariyar, Padam Lal BK, Hariram Shripaili, Santoshi BK, Gopi Achhami, Bhim Kumari Sunar, Tej Bahadur Mijar, Binod Pahadi and Chudkidevi Paswan. All the lawmakers represent the Dalit community.
Meanwhile, the NDLFN in a statement on Sunday evening condemned incident. It claimed that four of its cadres were injured when the police charged batons at the demonstrators.
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