2003-09-29 - incident - Lalitpur district २०६०-०६-१२ - घटना - ललितपुर जिल्ला

Archive ref no: NCA-09986 अभिलेखालय सि. नं.: NCA-09986

Alleged incident overview | घटेको भनिएको घटनाको समीक्षा

Information regarding alleged incident | घटेको भनिएको घटनासम्बन्धी जानकारी

  • 20. Surjeman Maharjan
  • At about 1:15 a.m., on the night of September 29, 2003 (Ashoj 12, 2060), a group of around thirty-five uniformed RNA soldiers came to the Pulchowk, Lalitpur home of Surjeman Maharjan, a thirty-four-year-old music teacher. The soldiers, who were armed, showed the family their army identification. After searching the home, the soldiers took Maharjan with them, promising his pregnant wife to return him the next day. The next morning at 9 a.m., the soldiers returned with Maharjan and searched the home again. They told the family they had come from Bhadra Kali, the RNA's headquarters in Kathmandu. The soldiers then left again with Maharjan. A friend was arrested at the same time as Surjeman Maharjan from Rajdal Gulm, Lalitpur, and released six months later. The released detainee told the family he had been held together with Maharjan for the first two months of their detention, first at Bhadra Kali, the army headquarters, and later at Bhairabnath Gulm (Maharajgunj) army barracks.
  • The family tried to locate Maharjan and obtain his release through many avenues, registering his "disappearance" with various human rights organizations, the Nepal Bar Association, the ICRC, Amnesty International, the NHRC, the RNA's human rights cell, and the Home Ministry. After filing a habeas corpus petition, the family obtained an order from the Supreme Court ordering the army to reveal the whereabouts of Maharajan, but the army responded by denying Maharjan was in their custody. On September 13, 2004 (Bhadra 28, 2061), the family received a phone call from Maharjan, who tried to reassure his family he was safe, but could not discuss his whereabouts.
  • Maharjan was a low-level activist in the Maoists' political front organization, the United Peoples Front (UPF), during the early 1990s, before the Maoists turned to violence. More recently, he was involved in the activities of Mangka Khala, a Newari cultural organization. The founding chair of Mangka Khala, Dilip Maharjan, is also a central committee member of CPN-M, and the Nepali authorities have accused Mangka Khala of being a front organization for the CPN-M.19

Incident Reference Tools | घटनासम्बन्धी सन्दर्भ सामग्री