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58. Chaman Lal Baral
For about half a year in 2002, the RNA was looking for
Chaman Lal Baral, forty-six-year-old president of a
local branch of Laborers’ Union (Maoist), coming to
his family home in Amar Singh Chowk-10, Pokhara,
every other day, while Baral was in hiding.
On August 5, 2002 (Shrawan 20, 2059), at around 2
p.m., a large group of uniformed RNA soldiers
surrounded a house in Kudahar Path, Pokhara submunicipality,
where Baral was staying. His family
believes someone had disclosed his whereabouts to the
army. Baral tried to escape, but surrendered when the army opened fire. An eyewitness
who told the family about the arrest said he recognized the soldiers from the Fulbari
army barracks in Kaski. A local newspaper published a report about the arrest.
Through contacts in the army, the family found out that for at least two months Chaman
Lal Baral was held in the Fulbari barracks, although the army at the barracks never
confirmed it. The family visited several prisons in Kathmandu, but was unable to locate
the man. Police at the district police office in Kathmandu told them that he had been
brought there for an interrogation, and then transferred somewhere else, but did not
provide any more details. A police officer at the Dillibazar Prison in Kathmandu once
told the relatives that she had seen Baral in the district court in Kathmandu.
For two years the family continued to inquire at Fulbari barracks and at the CDO, but
has not received any information. They believe Baral has been killed while in custody. 55
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Human Rights Watch interview with a relative of Chaman Lal Baral, Kaski, Sepetember 22, 2004.
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