Kathmandu: Dozens of ex-Maoist combatants
have alleged that party commanders are `forcefully` taking
away the monetary package given to them by the Nepalese
government for giving up their arms and taking voluntary
retirement.
In Surkhet, commanders snatched away cheques of some 26
combatants of the Jharana Smriti Brigade, Section
Vice-Commander Man Bahadur Chand was quoted by `The Kathmandu
Post` as saying.
The party demanded Rs 2,00,000 to be deposited and
allowed an amount of Rs 50,000 to be taken home, he claimed.
As part of the first installment, each of the 7,365
combatants is entitled to cheques worth Rs 2,50,000 to Rs
4,00,000.
Things turned violent at the fourth division in
Nawalparasi after some commanders allegedly forced fighters to
deposit 40 per cent of the money and beat up four of them
inside the camp after they refused to follow the order, the
daily said.
"We risked our lives for the party`s sake and now the
party is doing injustice to us."
"The amount we are paid is peanuts. We are shocked that
the party is trying to take it from us," Dhan Bahadur Rana
from Arunkhola, Nawalparasi, said.
Some combatants have now lodged informal complaints with
members of the Special Committee Secretariat, which looks
after the integration and rehabilitation of the Maoist combatants.
Meanwhile, opposition parties have taken serious
exception to the reported incidents.
"We are hearing of a lot of such complaints from
combatants. We have demanded the prime minister hold a meeting
of the special committee to dig out the truth," Ram Sharan
Mahat, NC leader and Special Committee member, said during a
three-party meeting yesterday.
"Maoist leadership is not serious enough to implement the
past pacts," CPN-UML president Jhala Nath Khanal alleged.
PTI
