Buddhachitta: Unhealthy competition leads to violence

This was the same tree, on which Sher Bahadur had agreed with businessmen Satyaman Lama and Samip Tripathi for five years to sell Buddhachitta for 90 lakhs per year and had already received 50 lakh rupees in advance. It was agreed that the rest of the money will be paid after the fruit is harvested.

Sher Bahadur was in Kathmandu on the day of the incident. He got a call from home around 2 am. The family members told the news that Buddhachitta's tree had been cut in a panicked voice. Narrating the incident that the family members experienced that night, he said, 'A group came at 12:30 and fired shots and scared them by not letting them come out of the house. Some have threatened to kill them if they come out of the house. They came in a group of 15/20 people, they cut down a tree and put 4 socket bombs around the house and ran away with a jacket written Jan Mukti Sena.' Thakurani has 4 sons. Saila's son Sher Bahadur was handling the business of Buddhachitta Mala. According to Sher Bahadur, the plant was just blooming at this time. Some other businessmen did not like the Buddhachitta business done by Sher Bahadur. "Last February 22, a well-known businessman sent a message saying 'game itch over'," said Sher Bahadur Buddhichitta business, which is becoming the main source of income, is becoming a means of increasing crime, violence and discord in recent years. The increasing price of Buddhachitta and the unhealthy competition in its business are causing strife. For example, Sher Bahadur had an income of 3 million rupees last year alone. It can be understood from this, how big is the business of Buddhachitta.

Many locals are mobilizing security forces to prevent the theft of Buddhachitta, while some are using wire netting or barricading and keeping closed circuit cameras. But this alone does not seem to be possible to protect the mind. Samip, who made an agreement with Sher Bahadur to buy Buddhachitt, said, 'Security was mobilized from the second week of May, we had planned to tighten the security system when it was time to bear fruit, the criminal group cut down the plant itself, as a result of which we have lost more than 20 million.' After the incident, they have demanded 30 years of income from the criminals involved in the incident and 5 years of compensation from the contractor as income from the tree.

District Police Office Kavre has already arrested 41-year-old Man Bahadur Tamang of Temal Rural Municipality-6, Durgalal Tamang of Temal Rural Municipality-3 and 36-year-old Dheeraj alias Shyamakrishna Mainali of Roshi Rural Municipality-5 despite filing a complaint against 8 people in this incident. "We are also investigating the preliminary inquiries and past incidents," said Bashundhara Khadka, Chief Superintendent of Police, District Police Office, Kavre. Chief District Officer Rudradevi Sharma said that the incident was also discussed in the district level security committee meeting. She said, "In some cases, the police have been mobilized even after an application has been made for peace and security in the village by a wealthy man." 077 At 11:30 on the night of June 11, a group looted Buddhachitta by shooting from Sher Bahadur's house in Nagbeli. According to the police, at that time the CC camera was also broken and a garland worth 90 lakh rupees was stolen. The police investigation showed that there was a group of at least 20 people involved in this work. In this incident, the police arrested Radhakrishna Mainali, alias Kale, of Roshi rural municipality-6. The arrested persons were released on October 27, 2017 by the order of Kavrepalanchok District Court, on bail of 2 lakh rupees. The court has not decided on this case. Nine others involved in the incident are still on the absconding list of the police. Since 2007, two cases related to intellectual property transactions have been registered in the district police. District Court Kavre Srestedar Karna Bahadur Rai says that cases are registered every year due to unhealthy competition in Buddhachitta business. It seems that 14 cases related to Buddhachitta mala have been registered in Kavre District Court since 1974. 1 case was registered in 074, 1 in 076, 2 in 077, 2 in 078, 4 in 079 and 4 in 080.

In addition to the police and the court, the case related to Buddhachitta has also started reaching the judicial committee at the local level. Since 079, 6 cases related to Buddhachitta were registered in the Judicial Committee of Roshi Rural Municipality. Out of which 4 have already been sold and 2 are left, said Mim Bahadur Waiba, the vice president of the rural municipality and the coordinator of the judicial committee. "The committee has registered cases related to Buddhachitta tree, land, border, Buddhachitta mala trade agreement violation," he said.

After many controversies regarding the trading agreement of Buddhachitta mala and its violation, the municipality made a procedure in 076 to regulate the trading of Buddhachitta. It was amended in the financial year 080/81 as 'Buddhachitta Fruit Seeds Sales and Management Procedure 080'. Dinesh Lama, Chairman of Roshi Rural Municipality, said that according to the procedures, security and protection are done in coordination with the security agencies in the district for the sale and management of Buddhachitta fruit seeds. After the implementation of the procedure, the controversy was somewhat reduced. However, on March 29, an unimaginable incident happened.

Dalman Thokar, vice president of Temal rural municipality and coordinator of the municipality's judicial committee, claimed that there were no major disputes or criminal activities in Temal rural municipality of Kavre. He says that since he assumed responsibility in the judicial committee of the municipality, no case has been registered regarding Buddhachitta mala.