The Nepal government led by the Nepali Congress has forcefully snatched back the closed weapon-loaded trucks captured by the Maoist cadres in Rupandehi district. On the night of March 24th, a border-based Nepali intelligence source had leaked the information that three Indian trucks were coming with weapons and their accessories because they were not checked at the border. Former insurgents (Maoists), who have been deeply suspicious of the underhand activities of the Nepali Congress and the UML to annihilate them by creating an atmosphere of confrontation in the coming elections, captured the trucks demanding to open them to the public. But the government sent hundreds of armed policemen to snatch back the mysterious trucks. The Maoist cadres and the armed policemen confronted the whole night, and finally the government forces recaptured the trucks.
As the locals were sure that the trucks were carrying the latest weapons smuggled in by criminal gangs under the protection of certain government elites, the Maoists kept on resisting the armed police for several hours.
Nobody had taken responsibility for those weapon-loaded trucks earlier. When the local administration requested the Home Affairs either to arrest the concerned smuggling gang or to take responsibility by itself, the Home Affairs lied to the people that the trucks were carrying only logistics for the election. When the people protesting in the streets throughout the night demanded that the trucks be opened and the contents be shown to them, the government imposed a curfew and took the vehicles away from there.
Because of the suspicious methods adopted by the government, the people have no doubt that the trucks, as raised by the Maoists, definitely contained weapons.
The civilians concerned for their security have been more worried about the coming elections due to this mysterious incident. As the government violated people’s right to information and remained quite nontransparent on the weapon scandal, the Maoists called a general strike in Rupandehi, Kapilvastu and Nawalparasi on March 25th.
Maoists organized a nationwide short wheel-down program too. Although it is a direct violation of the Election Code and also a sensitive security issue related to people’s day-to-day life, the Election Commission and human rights institutions are silent over it.
Surprisingly, the Nepali Congress and the UML have not spoken a single word about the weapon scandal and people’s security in the coming elections.
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