Armed gang kills a refugee in Jhapa

A refugee was killed by an unidentified armed group Monday night in Beldangi I Bhutanese refugee camp in eastern Nepal, a refugee news portal said.

According to apfanews.com, a gang of 20-25 armed people killed Lok Nath Katel, 47, of Beldangi-I camp, Sector D/1 -14/15 while he was trying to rescue his neighbour from being attacked.

Apfanews.com quoted the secretary of the camp D. P. Pradhan as saying that the armed gang had come to make inquiries in the hut belonging to Narad Adhikari, general secretary of Druk National Congress (DNC) and president of Bhutan Chapter of the Netherlands-based Global Human Rights Defense (GHRD), at around midnight. Adhikari resides in Kakarvitta.

The attackers, who fled after the incident, said they were from Damak. The intention of the murder has not been known yet. The police has beefed upe security in the camp after the incident. Nobody has been arrested yet.

Adhikari is one of those who have been lobbying the Indian political leaders to put pressure on their government for addressing the Bhutanese refugee issue in recent months. nepalnews.com ia Sep 18 07