Maoists abduct former Nepal PM’s son

In a dare devil strike last week, Maoist rebels in west Nepal’s Baitadi district abducted Arun Chand, National Executive member of the Rashtriya Prajatantra Party and the son of former Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand. The kidnapping became public only this week, after Chand’s wife and family members approached the National Human Rights Commission for its intervention to secure his release.

The kidnapping could bring an end to the limited political alliance between the Maoists and the seven-party pro-democracy political alliance, an understanding that came about after a Maoist cease fire in early September and a declaration that they would not harm political activists. The alliance is yet to issue a public statement on the kidnapping, but has said that it would do so if Chand were not released in the next 48 hours.

Although former prime minister Chand’s party—the RPP—is not part of the agreement with the Maoists, it has asked the King Gyanendra to reach out to political parties to restore democracy. It was during his premiership in 2003 that the Maoists had declared a ceasefire and had entered into negotiations with the government, which, however, ended in failure after three rounds of talks.