Nation»
Journo’s abduction: Scribe’s status unknown
- FNJ, NHRC express concern
PYUTHAN, JUL 01 -
An unidentified gang abducted Keshav Bohara, vice president of Pyuthan-based Radio Mandavi, on Wednesday.
According to Dipak Bhandari, secretary of the Pyuthan chapter of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), the kidnappers informed him of the abduction over Bohara’s cellphone.
Bohara’s phone was switched off after the call ended, Bhandari said, who claimed to have heard Bohara wailing in the background during the phone conversation.
Police team looking for the abducted journalist is yet to trace his whereabouts as of Thursday.
Chief District Officer Nandikeshar Tripathi said that security personnel were mobilised in various parts of Pyuthan in search of Bohara.
Police said it was still unclear who abducted Bohara and with what motive. Bohara’s friends said he had been receiving death threats from an unknown caller ever since he broadcast a news story that the UCPN (Maoist) had not returned the seized land belonging to an ashram in the district.
Prakash, Maoist district secretary, said his party was not behind Bohara’s abduction.
Meanwhile, local chapters of the FNJ, Press Union, Press Chautari and other media groups have appealed for Bohara’s safe and immediate release.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) have expressed serious concern over Bohara’s abduction and appealed for his safe release.
“If anybody has dissatisfaction over a news story, they can take legal procedures,” said NFJ in its press statement on Thursday. “We urge the abductors to release Bohara unconditionally and the government to show seriousness in finding his whereabouts.”
NFJ has formed a five-member committee led by its Mid-West coordinator Prem KC to study
the case.
Issuing a press statement, the NHRC has expressed deep concern over Bohara’s abduction. A team from NHRC’s Nepalgunj-based regional office has left for Pyuthan to monitor the incident, read a release. “We urge the government to help investigate the case and to the concerned group to make Bohara’s whereabouts public.”
Posted on: 2010-07-02 08:12
Headlines
Advertisements
