The residents of Hiramaniya village of Banke district staged demonstrations in Nepalgunj Tuesday against Maoists protesting the abduction of two youths in the district.

Maoists rebels abducted one Hemant Bahadur Thapa of Hirminiya-2, Pahadiyanpur and another local Jay Lal Maut on June 29 on charges of being involved in looting.

Around 1,500 Pahadiyanpur residents came to Nepalgunj and chanted slogans against the Maoists and demanded Thapa’s release.

They also encircled the Nepalgunj-based liaison office of Maoists for about six hours from 1 p.m..

They organized a protest programme bringing the traffic movement of the city to a complete halt. They carried out placards with slogans against Maoist atrocities and demanded to publicize the whereabouts of abducted people.

Claiming that the abducted duo are innocent, the villagers demanded their safe and unconditional release.

The villagers also denounced the Maoists attempt to label innocent people as murderers and submitted a 12-point memorandum to the Maoists. They warned that they would unveil strong protest programmes if their demands were not met.

Reports quoted Maoists as saying that they would release the abducted people by Thursday.

Meanwhile, local human rights activists, issuing a joint statement condemned the abduction and added that such activities of Maoists are in clear violation of human rights, humanitarian law and code of conduct.

The local Maoist leader Dayal Barma said the duo were taken under control for investigation.