I was moved for four or five hours. I reached a hilly spot on foot after riding on a motorcycle for some time. They kept me blindfolded. The next day they declared, “We are a political organization. We are from the Nepal Hindu Janata Party. The government did not address our demands, so we have been forced to take this step to pressure them. You need not fear.” [break]
“We have not built up our base in Kathmandu yet, but we have organizations in 15 districts. When we were searching for a notable person away from his family, our friends suggested your name and hence we are doing this,” they added. They also brought up the issue of corruption at the cancer hospital. “We have found past instances of corruption and during your tenure as well and have therefore brought you here for investigations,” they told me.
“The delay in releasing you was due to the investigations. We went to Kathmandu and even found your home. The investigations took time but we also found that the corruption was not on the scale that we were led to believe,” they added. The good thing is they paid great attention to feeding me properly and to my treatment, giving me the medicines that I take. They would ask me what I wanted to eat, how the food was, and would even bathe me. They would address me as sir and doctorsaab.
They spoke on the phone sometimes in Nepali and at other times in some Tarai language. They would talk to me also on the phone and say they didn´t want to misbehave with me. The two persons who were with me would speak on the phone and would use terms like ´high-level commander´. They would always keep me under guard.
The days would be similar thereafter. Though I couldn´t read and hear any news, they would read newspapers to me and tell me what the prime minister, the home minister and political parties said, what happened in parliament and what the radio said. They would tell me on a daily basis which newspapers wrote positively, which negatively and what allegations and counter allegations were being made. I found the coverage plausible as there was no way of telling.
The two who were with me would sleep near me during the night only after tying up my hands. I found that natural as I was a captive. I felt the way one feels while watching some movie. I was blindfolded for all 19 days. At other times they would talk about their political views. “The government could do nothing. This is to pressure them, to just show that we also are a force. The government has not been able to do anything about corruption. We will punish the corrupt,” they would say. They said that they would come public in another one and half years.
They had informed me I would be released on Thursday. “We are sorry we have blindfolded you. We also have religious feelings so we fear it may be sinful. Forgive us,” they said. They fed me a local chicken on Friday, saying that I was being released. They made me walk for around 10-12 minutes even while I was being releasing. They then put me on a motorcycle and then again shifted me to another vehicle.
They brought me to a road and said it was two in the morning and the place was Chitwan. They requested me not to remove the blindfold for 30 minutes. I waited for around 30 minutes and could not see anything after opening my eyes for the first time in 19 days. I rubbed my eyes and looked around but couldn´t recognize anything. I tried to sleep but there was no environment for sleep.
I only recognized the location after walking uphill for a while. I called home from a local phone after reaching Majimtar. I met Suresh Chandra Bhandari, a local, at a checkpost nearby. He informed the local radio station. He bought a Frooti and gave it to me at his home. I stayed with him for a while and returned home after my family and two younger brothers came to take me at around 5:30 in the morning.
I am under a lot of stress following this incident and can´t even think. I cannot say how I am feeling after 18 days of immense stress. I feel the government has failed to provide security. I hope this doesn´t happen to any other doctor or anyone else. I appeal to all the political parties and groups not to do this sort of thing to anyone.
(Based on conversation with Chandni Hamal in the presence of Dr Shrestha´s wife Sheelu, who thanked everyone taking the initiative for his release.)
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