Jalpaiguri, March 31: Badrinarayan Pradhan finds it hard to believe that his son Narayan is involved with the Nepal Maoists.
Narayan Bikram Pradhan, the treasurer of Nepalese National Democratic Front of India (NNDFI), was picked up from Siliguri on Monday along with Mohan Baidya, the third-in-command of the Nepal Communist Party (Maoist) for allegedly providing shelter to the rebels waging a war against the monarchy in the Himalayan kingdom.
The NNDFI leader has also been accused of helping the Maoists propagate their ideology in the western Dooars belt.
Badrinarayan was the CPM member of parliament from Darjeeling between 1984 and 1986. He later joined the CPM and is an adviser of the NNDFI.
“I do not know anything about the activities of which my son has been accused. He was an obedient child and a good teacher. On Monday, I first heard that he had been kidnapped in Siliguri. When I went to meet the police there, I was told that he had been arrested for links with the Nepal Maoists,” said Badrinarayan.
On returning home, the leader, who is now with the CPRM, found policemen at his doorstep.
“When I returned to my house, I found policemen waiting. They behaved politely but searched our home thoroughly. The police found some papers in my son’s room which they claimed were pamphlets issued by the Maoists. I have no idea what this is about,” said Badrinarayan who seems to have been shaken by the arrest of his son.
The former CPM leader said he had no inkling about his son’s relations with the Maoists in Nepal. “He would rarely speak to me. A few Nepali youths would come to our residence as his guests but he was not keen on introducing them to us. When we enquired about then he would reprimand us,” he said.
Badrinarayan also denied that he was part of the NNDFI and said he was not even sure of the extent of his son’s involvement with the activities of the organisation.
Still in a shock over his son’s arrest, Badrinarayan, however, has already despatched his elder son and other relatives to find a good lawyer to defend Narayan.
