ATTACKERS
BREAK ARM OF NEWSPAPER DISTRIBUTOR
Vehicle vandalized
Vehicle of Kantipur Publications
and around 30,000 copies of Kantipur and The Kathmandu Post
dailies and Saptahik
weekly were burnt down by the cadres of Akhil Terai Mukti Morch (ATMM)
at around 6 am on 7 March at Babhangamakatti 5, Saptari, an eastern
region of Nepal
.
According
to Sanjaya Santoshi Rai, vice president of Federation of Nepali
Journalists (FNJ), vehicle moving to Saptari district was stopped by
cadres of ATMM and the copies of newspapers and vehicle were destroyed
in the fire. Driver Chandra Katawal sustained minor injuries while
newspaper distributor Gangaram Bhandari's right arm was fractured in
the incident. ATMM's saptari commander Bikas later take the
responsibility through telephone and said that the vehicle was attacked
as the paper did not give news priority to the group's activity.
Federation
of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) has condemned the incident and urged
government to provide compensation and to punish the guilty who were
involved in the incident.
Pradeep Kaphle