2001-08-23 - incident - Bardiya district २०५८-०५-०७ - घटना - बर्दिया जिल्ला

Archive ref no: NCA-02450 अभिलेखालय सि. नं.: NCA-02450

Alleged incident overview | घटेको भनिएको घटनाको समीक्षा

Information regarding alleged incident | घटेको भनिएको घटनासम्बन्धी जानकारी

  • 175. Kali Ram Chowdhury
  • During the night of August 23, 2001 (Bhadra 7, 2058), a large group of uniformed RNA soldiers with backpacks came to the village of Pipal Tandi, Motipur VDC, Bardia district. The soldiers arrested a total of five persons from the village, and the five detainees were never seen again.
  • The family members of thirty-year-old Kali Ram Chowdhury were awakened in the night by soldiers shining their flashlights into the home, and were ordered to come outside. The soldiers initially detained Kali Ram's sister, but released her when Kali Ram surrendered to them. The soldiers then left with Kali Ram and his father and continued to surround houses, detaining four others from the village. Then they ordered Kali Ram's father to go back home, telling him they would not hurt Kali Ram and would release him soon. Shortly after he was released, Kali Ram's father heard gunshots from nearby the village's school, but nothing was found there the next day. 171
  • Kali Ram Chowdhury had been involved with CPN-M, and regularly attended CPN-M events. However, according to his family, he had left the CPN-M and returned to civilian life prior to his arrest.
  • The soldiers also came to the home of twenty-two-year-old Bhag Ram Tharu, a farmer with no Maoist links. The family initially refused to open the door, as the soldiers did not identify themselves, whereupon the soldiers broke it down. The soldiers asked, "Who is Bhag Ram?" and then ordered him to come with them. The soldiers told his relatives to go back inside the home, saying they would shoot them if they tried to follow them.172
  • The soldiers also arrested forty-five-year-old Hari Charan Tharu, a farmer with no Maoist connections. His family was ordered to stay inside their home, and Hari Charan was taken away.173
  • Around 3 a.m., two groups of soldiers surrounded the houses of thirty-seven-year-old housewife Kalpalti Tharu and twenty-six-year-old farmer Lal Bihari Tharu. Keeping their relatives at gunpoint, the soldiers took the two away, saying they would release them soon. The relatives of both Kalpalti and Lal Bihari Tharu are adamant that the two were never involved with the Maoists, and do not know why they were arrested.
  • About fifteen minutes after the arrest, both families heard gunshots in the forest near the village school, yet in the morning they did not find any signs of execution there. 174
  • Following the arrests, the relatives went to the Rambapur army barracks, to the chief district officer in Guleria, to the Thakurdwara army barracks, the Chisapani army barracks, and to officials in Nepalgunj, but received no information. The "disappearances" were reported to the ICRC and local human rights organizations.175

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