The government had provided temporary numbers to the stolen vehicles used by Maoist leaders after they entered the peace process. The cabinet, that included Maoist ministers, on October 8, 2007 had decided to manage 100 such vehicles by allotting them temporary registration numbers on yellow and white plates. Police officers involved in the investigations claimed the smugglers are doing so in connivance with Maoist cadres.[break]
The police took 13 such smuggled vehicles into control in the past one year. The police vigilance, however, has slackened after the Maoists joined the coalition government led by CPN-UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal. "A lot of stolen vehicles are smuggled in using numbers assigned to Maoist vehicles and the police had been clamping them down. But the police vigilance has relaxed in the changed scenario," a police officer conceded.
The commander of Fifth Division of Maoist combatants Suk Bahadur Rokka uses a white Mahindra SUV (0001 A 74) but police captured another white vehicle of a different make using the registration number allotted to Tokka´s vehicle from Sunwal, Nawalparasi. Likewise, politburo member Ram Karki uses a black Mahindra Scorpio (0001 A 23) but police had found a white Mahindra Scorpio with the number assigned to his vehicle in Butwal.
Police claimed the smugglers started using temporary Maoist numbers in connivance with Maoist cadres after police began to capture smuggled vehicles regularly. "The color and number of the vehicles were similar as were the papers. Investigations revealed that the vehicles were using fake numbers," a police officer involved in investigations said. Some smuggled vehicles have been found using even the numbers that have not been used by any Maoist leader.
"Maoist cadres and leaders have been found inside most of the vehicles with fake numbers when they were apprehended," a police officer with Regional Traffic Police Office, Butwal said. The officer said police have been sending the captured vehicles to customs office as unclaimed due to the complexity in arresting the persons found inside those vehicles.
Police said so far six captured vehicles have been found to be used by Maoist cantonments. Police had found six other fake number plates from a vehicle (0001 A 90) found in Charange Jungle of Rupandehi on May 30. The vehicle belonged to the Jhyaltungdanda Camp of Maoist combatants. Police claimed the Maoist cadres were preparing to use those fake number plates for other smuggled vehicles.
Related story
Department of Transport Management asks vehicle owners to acqui...
