Nepal government to release detained Maoists: Report

Kathmandu, May 6 (UNI) The Nepal government will release detained Maoists after removing the terrorist tag and red corner notice to arrest them to pave the way for peace process, state run media said here today.

About 700 Maoists are in custody in various places in the Himalayan nation, state run English language daily 'The Rising Nepal' said quoting Home Secretary Bal Krishna Prasain as saying.

The government was collecting information on what charges the Maoists leaders and cadre were being detained, kept under custody and whatever other processes were being undertaken, Mr Prasain added.

''The detained Maoists will be released through different legal processes on the basis of their offences,'' he said.

It might take some days to release the Maoists after complete information regarding their conditions of arrest is acquired, the Home Secretary said.

The process of making public the whereabouts of the disappeared people will take sometime, he added.

According to records, a total of 987 people are reported to have disappeared, the National Human Rights Commission said.

''Among them, the state has disappeared 695 people and while the 292 of them have gone missing on the hands of the Maoists, the NHRC added.

The government has decided to reciprocate the three-month-long ceasefire by the Maoists by announcing it for an indefinite period from their side.

The seven party alliance and the rebels have signed a 12-point agreement includind resolution of the problem through peaceful means by holding elections to institute a constituent assembly.

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