One dies another injured in road accident

CHITWAN, SEP 22 - A cyclist died and the pillion rider was injured due to a tipper -hit at Chainpur Khairhani-4 along the East-West Highway in the district on Monday.

The accident happened when a tipper (Na 2 Kha 5145) heading to Naryangadh from Hetauda hit the cyclists at the place. The deceased has been identified as Hemnath Acharya, 57, of Khairhani.

The injured pillion rider, Sushmita Acharya, 21, who is described to be in a critical condition, is undergoing treatment at the College of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital, Bharatpur in the district. Prior to this, the agitated locals obstructed the highway in protest.

Visually-impaired girl ‘raped’ in hostel 14-yr-old assaulted by gang

POKHARA, SEP 19 - A 17-year-old visually-impaired girl has allegedly been rape d by her hostel warden in Lekhnath Municipality, Kaski.

Warden Dandapani Dhakal, the victim claimed, took her into a guestroom of the Bhandardhik-based hostel and assaulted her on September 4. The incident came to light as the victim shared her ordeal with her friend days after the incident.

The District Police Office in Kaski on Wednesday arrested 47-year-old Dhakal, a teacher at Janaprakash Higher Secondary School, as per the complaint lodged by the girl on Tuesday. Police said the accused is remanded in custody and they are investigating the incident.

According to the victim, she went home soon after the incident to tell her mother about it, but she could not. She ultimately came out of the hostel on the pretext of taking a notebook from her friend and lodged the complaint with the police with the help of women rights activists.

She said Dhakal sexually abused her in the past as well. She informed that the perpetrator warned her of dire consequences if she disclosed the matter. The 11th grader, along with other 28 visually impaired students, was staying in the hostel for the past one month.

14-yr-old assaulted by gang

DANG: A 14-year-old girl of Sonpur was gang- rape d in a forest near Arnahawa on Monday. In a complaint lodged at Ward Police Office, Lamahi on Thursday, the victim claimed that two motorcycle-borne men took her from Lamahi to a nearby forest and committed the crime. She said one Ramkali Dangi Bhattarai of Sonpur-5 had taken her to Lamahi promising her a good job in Butwal. Police arrested Ramkali on human trafficking charge as she was found taking the girl to Lamahi without the consent of her family. Police said they are yet to identify the accused.(PR)

No ticket to ride home Plaints abound over ticket unavailability for Dashain

KATHMANDU, SEP 20 - It is barely six in the morning at Gongabu Bus Park. Thirty-eight-year old Kamala Kharel stands next to a ticket counter, hoping to somehow buy a bus ticket to Dhangadi. She wishes to visit her hometown to celebrate Dashain with her family, which she has been doing every year. This year, though, she may not get the bus ticket. She has already been told that all the tickets have been sold out.

Kamala, however, hopes the case may not be so, that maybe she will get the ticket if she waited longer. She is not the only one waiting grim-faced for a lucky turn of events. Many people have been visiting the ticket counters at Bus Park, enquiring if there are any seats available.

The advance booking system launched in view of the approaching festivals has hundreds of passengers worried that they will be unable to visit their families during Dashain festivals this year.

According to Metropolitan Traffic Police Division, the tickets were already booked within a week from the day the booking started on August 10.

Till date, more than 120,930 tickets have been booked from September 25 (Ghatasthapana) to October 2 (Mahasthami); around 600,000 people have already left the Capital city to celebrate Dashain with their loved ones.

 The Department Of Transport Management (DoTM) estimates that 1.5 million people will be leaving the Kathmandu Valley for Dashain this year. Around 5,000 public vehicles leave for outer districts from Kathmandu everyday. To accommodate the growing number of people wanting to visit their homes during the festival, DoTM plans to add around 1,500 public buses this time. Eight hundred buses were added last year.

 “We are planning to repair and run as many buses as possible, and we will also be using local vehicles running within the valley to serve the long distance-passengers,” says Sarad Adhikari, the technical director of DoTM.

But some people say that adding extra vehicles is not going to solve the problem. They claim the bus operators are selling tickets in higher prices saying that there are only limited seats available. Sambhu Kumar Shah recently booked a bus ticket to Janakpur for Rs 1,200, nearly two times the actual fare.

“Getting that ticket would not have been possible had I not contacted this person who had been selling tickets charging high rates. Before I ran into this man, every ticket counter I visited told me that they had no ticket available,” says Shah.

 Although the government has established  peoples’ help desk at 11 places in the Valley to monitor the ticket sales and help the passengers, people are still complaining that they are being forced to buy tickets at higher prices.

Kamal Thapa, the inspector at Thankot Traffic Police Office, says they receive more than 100 complaints on a daily basis and that they have been monitoring the ticket counters as well. Contrary to Thapa’s claim, the ticket counters in places like Kalanki, Gongabu Bus Park, Sundhara, Dhapashi, Gaushala, Chabahil and Koteshwor are full of so-called agents, approaching the prospective ticket buyers, and whispering in their ears if they wish to buy tickets to anywhere. And, of course, the price they quote is inflated. The police personnel stationed at the help desks, meanwhile, seem unaware of these scalpers’ presence.

होटलबाट एक जोडी पक्राउ

म्याङ्लुङ्ग: तेह्रथुम सदरमुकाम म्याङ्लुङ्गको एक होटलमा यौनजन्य गतिबिधि गरिरहेको अवस्थामा प्रहरीले बिहिबार साँझ एक जोडीलाई पक्राउ गरेको छ। प्रहरीले म्याङ्लुङ्गको निलकमल होटलको कोठाभित्र यौनजन्य गतिबिधि गरिरहेको अवस्थामा एक जोडी युवा युवतीलाई पक्राउ गरेको हो। 

 

बिशेष सूचनाको आधारमा होटलमा छापा मार्दा युवा युवतीलाई रंगेहात पक्राउ गरिएको जिल्ला प्रहरी कार्यालयले जनाएको छ। होटलमा छापामार्दा करिव २५ बर्षिय युवक र २३ बर्षिया युवतिलाई आपत्ति जनक अवस्थामा पक्राउ गरिएको प्रहरी नायव उपरिक्षक बिदुर गौतमले बताए। पक्राउ परेका युवायुवतिको नाम भने प्रहरीले खुलाएको छैन।

पक्राउ परेका युवकको घर बिराटनगर र युवतिको भने तेह्रथुम जिल्लामै रहेको प्रहरीले जनाएको छ। यता होटल संचालक प्रेम राईले भने होटलको कोठा बुक गरी बसेका युवकले कति खेर युवतिलाई ल्याएर राखेको आफुहरुलाई थाहा नभएको बताएका छन् ।

प्रहरीले एक साता अघि म्याङ्लुङ्ग बजारकै काजोल होटलबाट पनि एक जोडिलाई आपत्ति जनक अवस्थामा पक्राउ गरेको थियो। जिल्लाका विभिन्न बजारहरुमा खुलेआम रुपमा यौन व्यवसाय संचालन भैरहेको सूचना आएकाले होटलहरुमा छापा मार्न थालिएको प्रहरी नायव उपरिक्षक गौतमले बताए। 

 

६ जिल्ला गाँजाको उच्‍च जोखिममा

काठमाडौं : मकवानपुर, उदयपुर, सुनसरी, सिराहा, पर्सा र बारालाई गाँजा उत्पादनका हिसाबले जोखिमपूर्ण जिल्लामा राखिएको छ। प्रहरीको लागूऔषध नियन्त्रण ब्युरोले ६५ जिल्लामा गरेको अध्ययनले ती ६ जिल्लामा व्यावसायिक रूपमा गाँजा खेती गरिएको देखाएको छ।

 

 यसै आधारमा ती ६ जिल्लालाई जोखिमपूर्ण समूहमा राखिएको हो। ब्युरोले तीन महिना लगाएर (जेठ, असार र साउन) अध्ययन गरेको थियो। 

 

गाँजा फडानी गर्ने क्रममा सम्बन्धित क्षेत्रका बासिन्दा र प्रहरीबीच झडपको स्थिति उत्पन्न भएको ब्युरोका एसएसपी रणबहादुर चन्दले बताए। बर्सेनि गाँजा फडानी गरिए पनि गाँजाखेतीमा कमी नआएको निष्कर्ष ब्युरोको छ। 

 

अध्ययनले मोरङ, महोत्तरी, कपिलवस्तु, धनुषा, सप्तरी, रौतहट, खोटाङ, बागलुङ, धादिङ, बझाङ, बाजुरा, चितवन, रोल्पा, रु कुम, नवलपरासी, सर्लाही, दाङ, बाँके र बर्दियालाई 'गाँजा प्रभावित क्षेत्र' देखाएको छ। 

 

अध्ययनअनुसार 'कम प्रभावित' जिल्लामा कञ्चनपुर, कास्की, धनकुटा, रूपन्देही, कैलाली, कपिलवस्तु, स्याङ्जा, तनहुँ, झापा, दार्चुला, म्याग्दी, सिन्धुपाल्चोक, डँडेल्धुरा, काभ्रे, बर्दिया, सुर्खेत र रसुवा छन्। 

 

 

अध्ययनअनुसार मकवानपुर, उदयपुर, सुनसरी, सिराहा, पर्सा र बारालाई गाँजा उत्पादनका हिसाबले जोखिमपूर्ण जिल्लामा परेका छन्।  बर्सेनि गाँजा फडानी गरिए पनि गाँजाखेतीमा भने कमी आएको छैन।  

 

मकवानपुर त अफिम उत्पादन हुने र यसबाट बढी प्रभावित जिल्लाका रूपमा पनि अगाडि देखिएको छ। अध्ययनले रौतहट, बारा, उदयपुर, पर्सा, सिराहा, सुर्खेत र रुकुमलाई अफिमबाट प्रभावित तथा सल्यानलाई कम प्रभावित जिल्लाका रूपमा देखाएको छ। कारोबारीले गाँजालाई चरेस र अफिमलाई हेरोइन बनाउन प्रयोग गर्दै आएका छन्। उनीहरूले गाँजा उत्पादन क्षेत्रमा गएर बाली नै खरिद गर्दै आएका छन्। 

 

गाँजा सुकाएर चिप्पड बनाएपछि प्रशोधन गरेर रासायनिक पदार्थ मिसाई चरेस बनाउने गरिन्छ। अफिमको चोपलाई सुकाएर प्रशोधन गरी हेरोइन बनाइन्छ। 

 

चन्दका अनुसार प्रहरीले २०७० वैशाखदेखि गत साउनसम्म १८ हजार ४० किलो गाँजा बरामदसँगै ११ जिल्लामा गाँजाखेती नष्ट गरेको छ। सबैभन्दा बढी मकवानपुरमा मात्रै ८७ बिघा दुई कठ्ठा जमिनमा लगाइएको गाँजा नष्ट गरिएको जानकारी उनले दिए। 

 

यसैगरी काठमाडौंमा ३२ रोपनी, रामेछापमा २५ रोपनी, उदयपुरमा सात सय ४४ रोपनी, सुनसरीमा पाँच बिघा १९ कठ्ठा, सप्तरीमा दुई कठ्ठा, सिराहामा तीन बिघा १४ कठ्ठा, बारामा १४ कठ्ठा, पर्सामा नौ कठ्ठा, चितवनमा ६ कठ्ठा र धनकुटामा एक रोपनी आठ आना दुई पैसा जग्गामा लगाइएको गाँजा नष्ट गरिएको छ। काठमाडौंबाहेक अन्य जिल्लामा बिक्री गर्ने उद्देश्यले नै यसको खेती लगाउने गरेको पाइएको चन्दले बताए। 

 

सोही अवधिमा मकवानपुरमा २३ बिघा १९ कठ्ठा १० धुर, रौतहटमा पाँच कठ्ठा, बारामा एक बिघा ६ कठ्ठा ९ धुर र पर्सामा पाँच धुर जग्गामा लगाइएको अफिम फडानी गरिएको ब्युरोले जनाएको छ। 

 

नेपालमा उत्पादित गाँजा र त्यसबाट बनाइएको चरेस सडक मार्ग हुँदै भारत र चीनमा पुग्छ। त्यस्तै हवाईमार्ग भएर जापान, हङकङ, थाइल्यान्ड, युरोपलगायत मुलुकमा पनि पुग्ने गरेको छ।