In spite of the commitment by the Maoists to the code of conduct reached with the government, abduction of civilians, government officials and cadres of other political parties continues.

Cadres of Terai Jantantrik Liberation Front abducted Tirtha Raj Khatiwada, chief of the Rajbiraj customs office on Tuesday, reports said. Police said two cadres of the Front came on a motorcycle and took Khatiwada away from his office to an undisclosed location.

Similarly, Nepali Congress has said Maoists abducted the party’s Rupandehi district committee member Astabhuja Pathak on Tuesday. In another incident, Ram Chandeshwor Yadav, a local resident of Balawakhar-7 in Dhanusha was abducted on Monday while he was going to Darbhanga in India to buy medicine.

Additional reports said that the Maoists padlocked the office of the Koshi Pump Canal Irrigation System in Saptari district saying that the office violated the agreement signed between the parties and the Maoists at the local level. The Maoist local leader Bimal said they locked up the office as retired office staff, supporters of the king, was reinstated instead of appointing others.

The Maoists also forced Bhola Gohibar, headmaster of Tedhamor Lower Secondary School in Dhanusha district to sign a contract paper on Sunday. Gohibar was manhandled, according to reports.

In the meantime, the code of conduct monitoring committee is yet to begin its work. Talking to Nepalnews on Wednesday, member of the committee Tara Nath Dahal said the committee has begun to receive complaints and compilation of the incidents that appears in the newspapers, but have not begun investigations as the working modality paper of the committee has not been approved by the peace talks team. “We are preparing to send seven initial investigation teams on field visits in 25 districts next week. We can then comment on the incidents after the report by the teams,” said Dahal.

Meanwhile, when contacted by Nepalnews, spokesperson of the Maoists and chief negotiator with the government Krishna Bahadur Mahara refuted the Rajbiraj customs office report. “I contacted our local leaders in the area yesterday and confirmed that it was not carried by our cadres. The Jantantrik is not associated with our party.”

“It has been customary that we are accused of any abduction taken place in the terai. But there are various vigilante or criminal groups that abduct people in our name,” Mahara said. He further said his party has given instructions for more investigation into the matter.