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KATHMANDU : Nepal's Maoists pledged Tuesday to help bring those responsible for the abduction and murder of a businessman to justice after the former rebels were linked to the crime.
The family of fast food restaurant owner Ram Hari Shrestha, a supporter of the ultra-leftists, said he was taken to a Maoist camp late last month and beaten to death. His body has not been found.
The Maoists had accused him of being involved in stealing 26,000 dollars and a handgun from a property he rented to them in Kathmandu.
"The Maoist camp commander told my relations that my brother died after beatings. The commander said my brother's body was thrown in the Narayani river," Gyan Kumar Shrestha, the victim's brother told AFP.
On Sunday, Maoist leader Prachanda accepted that "some selfish elements" in his party killed Shrestha, and a senior party official promised Tuesday to cooperate with any investigation.
"We are deeply saddened by what has happened. It is the duty of the government to start legal action and we are ready to help in any way we can," top Maoist member Dinanath Sharma told AFP.
The official, however, also played down the incident as "an internal affair."
The killing is a major embarrassment for the former rebels, who won elections to a new constitutional assembly on April 10 and are poised to take the lead in shaping the impoverished country's political future when the body holds its first meeting next week.
The Maoists signed up for peace and ended a decade-long civil war in 2006, but regularly come under fire for alleged beatings, abductions, extortion and murder by their supporters.
The United States still classes them as a foreign terrorist group.
The United Nations, which is monitoring the peace deal, slammed the killing.
"The UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) condemns the killing of Ram Hari Shrestha, which commanders of the Maoist army have acknowledged to UNMIN was committed by members of the Maoist army," the world body said in a statement.
Shrestha's family have called for a general strike in Kathmandu on Wednesday to pressure the government pursue the case.
"We are compelled to organise a strike because the state has not listened to us. We will continue to protest until we get justice," the victim's brother said.
Ramila Shrestha, wife of the slain man, urged the government to take strong action against the culprits.
Maoist leader "Prachanda should apologise in public as he is the supreme commander of the People's Liberation Army," a sobbing Shrestha told reporters.
"My children are asking 'Where is our father?' and I have not been able to answer them," she said.
"This is not the problem of one citizen or one family. Tomorrow, another person and family could be victims again. The culprits must be brought to justice so such killings are not carried out by the Maoists again," she said.
- AFP /ls
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