2002-05-23 - incident - Bardiya district २०५९-०२-०९ - घटना - बर्दिया जिल्ला

Archive ref no: NCA-05699 अभिलेखालय सि. नं.: NCA-05699

Alleged incident overview | घटेको भनिएको घटनाको समीक्षा

Information regarding alleged incident | घटेको भनिएको घटनासम्बन्धी जानकारी

  • 150. Tirtha Bahadur Thapa
  • On the night of May 23, 2002 (Jestha 9, 2059), the RNA conducted a large-scale operation in the village of Machaghar, Deudakala VDC-3, and detained five men, all of whom were taken from their homes and beaten during the arrest.
  • Twenty-five-year-old Tirtha Bahadur Thapa used to work in India, and had recently returned home to build a house, intending to return to India afterwards. The soldiers came inside his family's home, initially trying to fool the family into thinking they were Maoists by saying such things as, "We've sent ten comrades to your house, why didn't you feed them?," but Thapa and his family were not fooled, repeatedly telling the soldiers they didn't know what they were talking about. The soldiers then kicked Thapa repeatedly, ordered him to get dressed, and took him with them. Soon after the soldiers left, several gunshots rang out in the village.142
  • Twenty-six-year-old Shree Ram Tharu was also roused from his bed by the soldiers, who, after beating and kicking him in the courtyard, led him away.143
  • Twenty-seven-year-old Hira Sing Bathamagar, who worked as a laborer in India, was sleeping when the soldiers entered his home and called him by his name, saying, "Hira Sing, get up." Before he could get up, however, a soldier punched him three times in his face. He was taken to a corner of the courtyard, where the soldiers severely beat and interrogated him for about thirty minutes before leading him away.144
  • The soldiers then brought Bathamagar to the house of twenty-six-year-old Bom Bahadur Shahi, whom he used to work with in India. The soldiers searched Shahi's house, telling the family "not to tell anyone that the patrol was there." Then they walked both men away.145
  • Twenty-five-year-old Siya Ram Chowdhury was also arrested the same night at his home. The soldiers called him out by name, dragged him into the street and beat him there, and then took him away. Chowdhury's relative heard a gun shot about an hour after the soldiers left with Chowdhury.146
  • Early in the morning, Bom Bahadur Shahi's relative saw four vehicles leaving the village: a van and a jeep proceeded toward the Rambhapur army post, and a green truck and another jeep went in the direction of the Chisapani barracks.147
  • Four months after the arrests, a detainee released from the Chisapani barracks told the family of Bom Bahadur Shahi that he had seen a man who looked like him in the barracks.148
  • The families continuously inquired at the Chisapani barracks and with RNA officials at Nepalgunj, but but the authorities denied any knowledge of the case. The cases were reported to INSEC and the ICRC.
  • The relatives of Shree Ram Chowdhury and Bom Bahdur Shahi said the two men were not Maoists, but did attend a Maoist meeting once, like most other villagers. The families of the other three men deny that the men had any links to the Maoists, explaining that most worked in India as laborers. 149

Incident Reference Tools | घटनासम्बन्धी सन्दर्भ सामग्री