According to locals, the Maoists recently sold the house of Khim Bahadur Shah of Deukhuri at a cheaper price to one Nishan Tharu, who is affiliated with UCPN (Maoist). Shah died long ago and his family is currently abroad. [break]
Local Maoist in-charge Madhav Sharma sold the house for Rs 65,000 to Tharus one month ago.
"In-charge Sharma told me that the party has already got the house´s ownership transferred and asked me to buy. I paid Rs 65,000 to him," said Tharu.
But Sharma denied the charge. He instead said that criminals in the village seized Maoist cadres and looted Rs 10,000, a mobile set and a gold chain from them.
On Sunday, Tharu, accompanied by Maoist cadres, dismantled the wooden house to take away the timber, prompting locals to retaliate.
Police have arrested Tharu, Amarika Prasad Tharu and Khem Lal Chaudhary of Sonpur village development committee. They were later released in presence of local Maoist leadership.
The Maoists had captured 18 bighas of land in the district in 1997. The Maoists have been accused of distributing half of the seized land to its cadres. But the Maoists have denied the allegation. The remaining land was given to local farmers on contract for vegetable farming but the peasants ended the contract after the Maoists demanded money from them.
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