Nepal rebels release former PM's son

Communist rebels in Nepal have freed the son of a former prime minister today after family members agreed to pay money he apparently owed to local sugar cane farmers, a negotiator said.

Maoist rebels handed over Lokendra Bahadur Chand’s adult son, Arun, to human rights activists and journalists who had been negotiating his release.

A local journalist, J. Pandey, who was among the negotiators, said Arun Chand was freed this morning from the village of Masauria and was on his way home.

Pandey said Chand agreed to pay €346,000 he owed to local sugar cane farmers. The factory had been running on a loss and was shut down for the past year.

He was abducted late last month from his sugar factory in Chuhabazaar, about 375 miles west of the capital, Kathmandu.

The rebels, who claim to be inspired by Chinese communist revolutionary Mao Zedong, have been fighting since 1996 in an attempt to topple Nepal’s constitutional monarchy. The insurgency has left about 12,000 people dead.

The guerrillas unilaterally declared a ceasefire on September 3, but have since continued to abduct villagers, opponents, students and politicians.

Under the ceasefire, the rebels have said they will defend their positions but will not launch any attacks.