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Killings continue in Terai despite security beef-up

By IANS

Kathmandu : Two politicians belonging to deposed prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's Nepali Congress (Democratic) and a Maoist have been killed in two separate incidents in Nepals' restive Terai plains.

Bechayi Yadav and Gobari Yadav were gunned down in Nawalparasi district Monday evening by four men on motorcycles.

Till late Tuesday, there were no arrests.

Media reports said Bechayi Yadav had been forced to leave his home and flee to India in the past after threats by the Maoist guerrillas as well as local vigilant groups.

The double murder comes just hours after Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala held a meeting of his cabinet and gave "special instructions" to the home ministry to quell the rising incidence of violence and killings in the southern plains.

In yet another district in the Terai region that has been one of the most trouble-prone spots, a band of former Maoists, continuing their internecine war on former comrades, abducted and killed a Maoist leader.

Ram Biswas Saha, a local guerrilla leader in Rautahat district, was murdered by former rebels who are now waging a separate war as the Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha.

Local authorities put an indefinite ban on pillion riding in Rautahat – a move reminiscent of the direct reign of King Gyanendra in 2005 when the Maoists had used motorcycles to assassinate security officials.

Since this year, the Terai has been simmering with violence with nearly a dozen armed groups waging different movements.

Over 90 people have died in the plains since January – 29 of them in a single incident in Rautahat.

Two groups of former Maoists are now turning their guns on the unarmed guerrillas, who signed a peace pact and joined the government this year.

Eight Maoist leaders have been killed in the plains in a month, causing Maoist supremo Prachanda to reshuffle the Terai organisation of his party and assume direct command.

The Terai turmoil forced the government to postpone the election from June 20 to Nov 22.