Kathmandu, Oct 30: Three civilians waiting in a bus were killed and seven others injured when they were caught in the crossfire between Nepalese soldiers and Maoist rebels, an army official said today.
The troops and guerrillas fired at one another late yesterday near the bus at Tiukapur in the Dang district, 360 km southwest of Kathmandu, the official said.
Two of the passengers were killed on the spot and a third died during treatment, the official said. Seven more civilians were being treated at a local hospital.
No casualties were reported among the rebels or troops. The Maoist gunmen fled into the nearby forest after the gunbattle, the army official said.
The group Human Rights-Nepal said today that a schoolteacher killed himself at Bijuli path in Ramechhap district, 290 km east of Kathmandu, after he was unable to pay 24,000 Rupees (324 Dollars) demanded by the Maoists.
The teacher, Phate Bahadur Tamang, had offered the rebels his monthly salary of 4,000 Rupees but Maoist activists threatened to humiliate him publicly if he did not pay the full amount, the rights group said.
Separately, police said at least seven armed Maoists yesterday robbed a bank at Butwal in western Nepal, making off with the equivalent of 48,650 Dollars after forcing employees and customers to lie on the ground.
Bureau Report