Indra Kumar Shrestha, Babargunj VDC secretary, was murdered while he was returning home at Chandranagar-3 from district headquarters Malangawa. [break]
Police said Shrestha died on the spot immediately after he was shot at three times. He is survived by four daughters and wife.
Meanwhile, civil servants working at the VDCs, District Development Committees (DDCs) and other government bodies in the district halted work at their offices on Thursday to protest the killing. They have demanded that the government ensure security to government employees.
Harikant Karna, chairman of the Center for the Protection of the Rights of VDC Secretaries, said the motive behind Shrestha´s killing was to entrust the secretaries with the responsibility of VDC Chairmen. VDCs across the country are being run without chairman and other members as no local election has taken place for many years.
“Secretaries should be relieved from the financial responsibility that is handed over to them in absence of chairmen. An alternative arrangement should be made for that,” Karna said.
Bikram Yadav of SJTMM, in a telephonic conversation with local media, owned up the responsibility of Shrestha´s killing.
In Mahottari too, local body employees have closed their offices for four days to protest the killing of Shrestha.
Issuing separate press releases, VDC Secretaries´ Welfare Protection Center, VDC Employees´ Association, Nepal, and Madeshi Civil Servants´ Forum said the local body offices will remain closed for four days from Thursday.
Meanwhile, local body employees flayed the police action against the civil servants who went to submit a memorandum to the Ministry of General Administration in Kathmandu on Wednesday to demand appropriate management of 243 staffs who were promoted two years ago.
Farmer abducted
Meanwhile, an unidentified group abducted Binod Sah, a farmer from Pokhariya Mohanpur-3. According to Bindeshwar Sah, who was with Binod, 25, at the time of abduction, he was taken away by a group of some 12 unidentified persons, Wednesday midnight.
Police said they have intensified search for kidnappers.
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