Kathmandu: mps of the main opposition party cpn-uml obstructed regular proceedings of the National Assembly today demanding action against those involved in the kidnapping and torturing of Rautahat ddc member Jayaprakash Kaushal in connection with the incident of setting ablaze the house of Minister of State for Forest and Soil Conservation Mohammed Aftab Alam.

Accusing the brother of Mr Alam of being involved in the incident, the cpn-uml mps also demanded the sacking of the Minister of State from his post.

As soon as today’s meeting began, whip of the main opposition party Surendra Prasad Pandey said a group of armed Indian hooligans led by brother of Minister of State Alam kidnapped ddc member Kaushal from the ddc office in broad daylight last Thurday and was taken to the house of the uncle of the Minister of State in Rajpur Farhadawa where he was tortured.

Stating the local police administration had been arresting innocent cpn-uml workers even after the Maoists took responsibility of the incident, Mr Pandey demanded that the government take stern action against those involved in the kidnapping, release of the cpn-uml workers arrested by the police and a halt to the proceedings of the house until unless Minister of State Alam is removed from his post.

Cpn-uml mps Kedar Prasad Neupane, Kashinath Adhikari, Devraj Ghimire, Shanta Manawi, Thammaya Thapa, Bachaspati Devkota, Gaura Koirala and Ramchandra Bhattarai also demanded that the regular proceedings of the Upper House be stopped unless the demand put forth by their party is fulfilled.

Expressing concern over the incident of arson as well as kidnapping, leader of the ruling party Basudev Risal demanded an impartial investigation to the incident of kidnapping of Rautahat ddc member. He said that the regular proceedings of the house should not be stopped over the issue.

Nc mps Tilak Prasad Neupane, Jagannath Poudel, Arbinda Kumar Thakur, Jeevanprem Shrestha, Bhim Bahadur Shrestha, Sukraraj Sharma, Bijul Kumar Biswokarma, Mahendra Kumar Mishra and Omkar Prasad Shrestha also demanded formation of a commission for impartial investigation into the incident, action against the guilty and continuation of regular proceedings of the house.

Following this, National Assembly Chairman Dr. Mohammad Mohsin said there is a difference in the role of the upper and lower house, if the members of the lower house obstruct regular proceedings over an issue then it would not be proper for us to do the same.

The chairman requested all to cooperate in moving ahead the regular proceedings of the house.

Dr. Mohsin made repeated requests to members of the opposition to cooperate in moving ahead the proceedings of the house but the mps of the opposition party stuck to their demand and started chanting slogans at the wellof the house.

Following this Chairman Dr. Mohsin informed the meeting that the house was adjourned till 12:00 pm of April 5.

The meeting of the Upper House today had started three hours behind schedule.