OKHALDHUNGA?Rajan Dhamala, a poor farmer, does not understand why he has become the target of Maoist wrath. All he did was travel to the district headquarters to sell fruits. When he returned to his village, Katunje, the rebels had announced a penalty for him: 65 days of hard labour. Like Dhamala, all other villagers face similar punishment if they go to the district headquarters. Faced with this new edict, the villagers have suffered as they are unable to work, shop, sell or trade. Dhamala was accused of defying the new rebel rules introduced on 12 February by Risiram Dahal, Maoist leader of Kuntadebi VDC. Dhamala will have to dig bunkers for the militants for two months. Rebel leader Dahal has also been forcing the villagers to join protest rallies and shout slogans against the government. Notices saying that only medical emergencies are allowed to travel with one person accompanying the sick have been pasted all over the village. These notices threaten severe punishment to anyone disobeying. I was stopped while returning home and they released me only after a thorough interrogation, said a student from Kathmandu who visited Katunje to attend the funeral of a relative. A group of 10 armed rebels stand guard at every village to interrogate travellers. The whole district is affected by the blockade. The security forces, meanwhile have been forcing transporters to operate services.