“The preliminary trend indicates that the total number of combatants is likely to be less by 10 to 20 percent,” said coordinator of the secretariat under the Special Committee Balananda Sharma, who is leading a categorization team in Chitwan, on Thursday. [break]
According to Sharma, this trend has been witnessed with the completion of the categorization in three brigades under the third division of the Maoist army in Chitwan.
Secretariat members who are leading the categorization process in other cantonments told Republica that there are also indications that the number of combatants is likely to be less than that recorded by UNMIN, a political mission of the UN which was in Nepal until January this year to advance Nepal´s peace process.
The UN mission had registered 19,605 Maoist combatants. But NC and CPN-UML have time and again been saying that not all the verified combatants have been living in the cantonments. An updated record of the Office of the Cantonment Management shows that the office released allowances to 19,525 combatants last month.
“The number is likely to be less than that recorded by UNMIN in this cantonment,” said Dr Shambhu Ram Simkhada, a secretariat member leading categorization process in Chulachuli, Ilam.
A government official involved in categorization in Rolpa told Republica over phone that the Maoists have gone to villages to ask the former combatants to return to the cantonments as less number of combatants cantoned in the satellite camps are turning up to take part in the categorization process.
Sharma said this trend will be clearer in the next few days as the categorization will draw closer to completion. He said categorization in Ilam and Chulachuli is likely to be completed by Saturday.
The categorization teams have completed categorization of 9,290 combatants by Thursday, according to Balananda Sharma, coordinator of the secretariat under the Special Committee. The categorization are as follows:
First Division, Ilam: 853
Second Division, Sindhuli: 1,164
Third Division, Chitwan: 2,288
Fourth Division, Nawalparasi: 1,661
Fifth Division, Surkhet: 1003
Sixth Division, Rolpa: 1147
Seventh Division, Kailali: 1,094
Total: 9290
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