Government employees deployed in the remote hilly areas of Nawalparasi district have stopped reporting to work in light of the extortion drive of the Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal (CPN).

Three senior employees of the Bulingtar Rural Municipality left their workplace fearing ‘action’ from the Chand outfit. Chief Executive Officer Balkrishna Adhikari, accountant Raghunath Kafle and engineer Sanjaya Kumal fearing for their security left the rural municipality office on Thursday.

The party had written to all the local units of Nawalparasi (East) demanding a specific sum of money as donation.

The terrorised employees stopped going to work after the outfit threatened to take action if they fail to pay the amount by March 28.

Taking advantage of the poor security situation in these areas, the Chand outfit has intensified its extortion drives in Bulingtar, Baudikali and Hupse rural municipalities. There is no presence of the Nepal Army and Armed Police Force in these areas. The local police posts lack the resources to contain the threats of donations, especially from outfits such as Chand’s.

According to Adhikari, working in the municipality has become difficult in light of the outfit’s extortion demands coupled with the municipality’s inability to stop the illegal extraction of sand and pebbles from the district’s rivers.

“We have no alternative but to leave our posts because we have not received any support from the chief of the rural municipality to help us curb the illegal activities,” said Adhikari. He claimed that the rural municipality chief is protecting some locals who are involved in the illegal extraction of sand and pebbles.  

Shashikiran Bastakoti, chief of Bulingtar Rural Municipality, however, refuted claims of any wrongdoing.

“I asked Adhikari not to take the case of illegal mining into his own hands. I had asked him to seek the help of the police,” Bastakoti said.

Meanwhile, Chief District Officer Udayaraj Nepal told the Post that he called the three absent employees to his office on Sunday and inquired about the incident.

“I will look into the matter and will ask the employees to return to their posts. Security in the area will be beefed up to tackle the extortion demands and control illegal activities,” Nepal said.