The torture and murder of a businessman by Maoists has sparked countrywide protests directed against Prachanda, widely regarded as the prime minister in waiting.Angry residents of Kathmandu organised protests and said Prachanda had not intervened to get Ram Hari Shrestha released from Maoists detention despite repeated pleas from his wife and other relatives.Shrestha was abducted by Maoist guerrillas on April 27, purportedly for questioning regarding a theft. He was believed to be taken to where the Third Division of the People’s Liberation Army is stationed in Shaktikhor, 200 km from here. The place is monitored by the United Nations Mission in Nepal. Police say he was tortured, killed, and his body thrown into the Trishuli river.Shrestha’s wife Ramlila says a PLA commander confirmed to her on Friday that he had died under excessive torture by two comrades.A source in the home ministry says UNMIN will have to answer how an outsider was taken into the PLA camp, tortured, and killed. Shrestha used to run a fast-food centre in Kathmandu and was landlord to Bibidh, a commander of the PLA Third Division. He was “arrested” for alleged theft of Rs 1.7 million and interrogated on March 27. He was taken to Shaktikhor on April 27.
