By Xinhua,
Kathmandu : Incidents of murder, kidnapping, looting and other criminal activity have seen a resurgence in the eastern and central Terai plains districts in south Nepal after the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections, local newspaper The Kathmandu Post reported Saturday.
According to the report, the trend came with a clear escalation of violence by various armed groups operating in the Terai plains in the post-CA election period.
The government had mobilized special task forces in the Terai districts and security agencies in Nepal and India worked hand in hand to curb violence and criminal activity along the border areas during the CA poll. The Nepal-India border was also sealed for a few days during the poll.
Following relaxation in security after the election, at least 14 persons have been killed, more than 30 abducted and scores of other sustained injuries in separate incidents in the 13 eastern and central Terai districts. Fifteen incidents of bomb blast also took place in these districts, the report said.
In the eastern region alone, and mainly in Siraha and Saptari, near 200 km south of Nepali capital Kathmandu, nine people were killed, 18 abducted and a bank robbed after April 10, the date when CA elections started.
Ten persons sustained bullet and other injuries and four bomb explosions took place, according to police records. Similarly, two other cases of robbery and 14 incidents of looting were reported in these districts during the same period. Police in the region seized three weapons in connection with the incidents.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Ravindra Pratap Shah informed that criminal elements have begun to rear their head again in Siraha and Saptari. “The present situation is comparable to what it was till a week before the elections,” Shah said.
According to DIG Kiran Gautam, the Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM, Terai Democratic Liberation Front) and other armed groups have begun creating trouble lately. “It is mainly the issuing of threats over the phone to exact money that is increasing,” he informed.
Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Nepal Police, Keshav Baral, said small arms imported from India were used in killings, kidnappings, looting and other criminal activity.
“People have learnt to make improvised bombs and other homemade weapons and the use of these is increasing,” said Baral, adding, “Our society will suffer for a long time from this chronic problem.”
Baral said that a political decision is needed and the government should come up with concrete policies and legal provisions to resolve the problem for good.