Maoists torch Republica van with a kid and driver inside

CHITWAN, May 29: Maoist cadres have torched a pick-up truck that was carrying Republica and its sister daily Nagarik while the driver and a child were inside the vehicle in Chitwan on Saturday.



The van (Ba 6 Cha 8700) carrying the dailies to Chitwan, Nawalparasi and Makawanpur from Kathmandu was set ablaze at Ramnagar by the the cadres of Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) at 8:45 in the morning. The cadres had earlier torched the two dailies on Friday for publishing news related to Maoist involvement in Dr Bhakta Man Shrestha´s abduction. [break]



Driver Kishan Shrestha said the Maoists torched the van without allowing him and his seven-year-old nephew to get out of the vehicle. “I don´t know who torched the vehicle. But the number of one of the motorcycles used by the arsonists was Na 7 Pa 3768,” the driver said. The van was carrying 9,500 copies of the dailies.



A fire engine from Bharatpur had doused the fire.



Young Communist League (YCL) cadres had proudly informed the media in Chitwan about the torching of the van through phone.



Chitwan President of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) Krishna Giri has slammed the Maoist action after reaching the site of incident while police said search is on for the persons involved in the act.



The FNJ central office in Kathmandu in a statement said this attack related to the news report about Dr Bhakta Man Shrestha´s abduction is an attack on the entire press.

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