On the night of 11 April 2002, eight youngsters- Dhaniram Tharu, Soniram Tharu, Radhulal Tharu, Prem Prakash Tharu, Kamala Tharu, Mohan Tharu, Lauti Tharu and Chillu Tharu - all of Tharu ethnicity, disappeared from their homes in Nauranga village, Ward No.8, Manau Village Development Committee (VDC), Bardiya District. They were aged between 14 and 23; two among them were girls; and five of them were thoughts to be below 18 years old. The disappearances were allegedly committed by a group of 60-70 soldiers who came to the village, with groups of two to five soldiers breaking into the targeted houses between midnight and 2am, carrying torches and weapons. In each house they asked for the disappeared person by name, sometimes even seeming to know the location of that person’s bed.

On the night of 12 February 2004, around fifty to sixty armed and uniformed members of the then Royal Nepal Army (RNA) conducted an operation in Ward No. 3, Pokhari Chauri Village Development Committee, Kavre District. They were guided by an informant known to be a teacher in the village. At around 11pm, they first visited the house of Dilmaya Chaulagain and searched it for evidence of Maoist activity. When they found nothing of value to them they took her food and after an hour or so moved onto the house of Subhadra Chaulagain.

On 19 December 2003, Mukunda Sedai was arbitrarily arrested by plain-clothes men while playing cards at a tea stall nearby his apartment at Bhimsensthan, Ward No. 20, Kathmandu.  According to the testimony of the witnesses, he was subsequently detained in the custody of the Jagadal Batallion stationed at Chhauni Army Barracks to the west of Kathmandu but there have been no reported sightings of him since mid-February 2004. His wife received a handwritten note from the victim on 16 January 2004 which states that Mukunda was being detained at Chhauni Barracks.

Yubaraj Giri, from Kohalpur, Banke district, was arbitrarily arrested by the Nepal Army in April 2004 and illegally detained at Immamnagar army camp. He was held incommunicado in a dark room for almost 13 months. In May 2005, he was transferred from the army barrack to a police station, and then to the district jail.  He was detained in the jail for a further 63 days and was finally released on 15 July 2005 following the order of the Appellate Court. Mr Giri estimated he was tortured about 100 times during around 7 months of his detention in the army camp, and initially on a daily basis.

Surya Prasad Sharma disappeared after he was arrested by the army in January 2002 from his home in Baglung district. His wife followed the soldiers and saw how they led her husband into the Kalidal Gulm army barracks. She later had a visit from a soldier who told her that her husband was being severely tortured. She was later told that her husband had escaped while being taken to identify a Maoist hide-out. In response to a habeas corpus petition filed in the Supreme Court in February 2003, all government authorities denied his arrest and detention. However, the Baglung Chief District Officer (CDO) informed the court that Mr. Sharma had tried to escape jumping in the river where he got drowned. A government committee set up to investigate disappearances provided the same information. In February 2005, the Supreme Court quashed the petition believing the CDO’s response.

Dev Bahadur Maharjan was arrested on 26 November 2003 by members of the Nepal Army.  He was illegally detained at the Chhauni military barracks from the time of his arrest until 17 September 2004, when he was transferred to an official detention facility.  He was not able to contact his family, friends, or consult with a lawyer during this time.  While Mr. Maharjan was detained in the military barracks, he was subject to torture and ill-treatment.  Soldiers severely tortured him for four consecutive nights, and would randomly beat him and other detainees throughout his detention.  Mr. Maharjan suffered injuries from this torture, but was not provided with medical treatment.