Surkhet, praharidwara sarvasadharanlaai kutpit gareko aarop. The landless squatters, living in the area of Khanddevi Community Forest at Rupse in Satakhani VDC-7 have accused the forest guards of thrashing them and misbehavior on February 13. Jasbir Sarki, the chairperson of Rupse Victims Struggle Committee accused the foresters led by Ranger Toplal Chapain posted at Badipati in Satakhani VDC-4 of beating him along with local squatters Bhim Bahadur Sunar and Kaushila Pariyar. ‘We are at our homes when the forest guards came with the Forest chairperson Tikaram Chhantel. They asked us to sign some documents without letting us read them and we refused. Then they thrashed us and verbally abused us”, Sarki said adding this was the fourth time they were treated this way. The people of Rupse were evicted by the District Forest Office on December 3, 2013 prompting their sit-in strike in front of the Forest Office for 20 days. The episode ended after there was an agreement that the displaced people would remain in the forest area until other alternatives were found. The families are living in the area for two decades now. DFO Shambhu Prasad Chaurasiya claimed that his staffs had not thrashed anybody. Their plea at Appellate Court was rejected on September 2, 2013 saying the public forest should not be encroached. He added that the staffs had gone there to paste the 15-day notice to vacate the area as per the verdict of the Appellate Court. Regretting the harassment to the landless squatters, land rights activist Rajendra Sharma said that though the Appellate Court ruled against the settlers, there are other laws allowing them to remain there until new alternatives were found. Dur