All Maoists detained under public security act released

August 8, 2001
1 MIN READ
A
A+
A-

No more Maoists are now detained under the public security act with the release of eight more rebels detained under the act, the Home Ministry said Wednesday.

Twenty-five insurgents imprisoned under the act had been earlier released from jails after Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba assumed office last month, the Home Ministry said. But 273 Maoists continue to be held on other charges, the Home

Ministry said.

The names of those released have not been officially made public. “How can the others be released?” a Home Ministry spokesman conjectured to a question if other Maoists are being freed.

The latest government move comes after Home Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka told parliament Wednesday all Maoists being held under the stiff act are being being freed to create an atmosphere for talks to end a communist insurgency that has claimed more than 1,800 lives in nearly six years.