DHANGADHI, May 15 - During Kamaiya liberation year -- in 2000 -- he bought a tractor with a loan of Rs 700,000 from a bank.

But Sher Bahadur Hamal from Khailad in Kailali could not use the tractor, nor could he keep his land. Maoist cadres seized his land and property in 2001 and forced him to leave the village.

The amount Hamal owes the bank has now more than doubled, thanks to interest: Rs. 1.5 million. He is having a hard time even managing two square meals a day for his family of nine and educating his children in Dhangadhi, headquarters of Kailali.

He is worried over the additional responsibility of shouldering his son's--who recently completed his SLC examination--higher education.

After being displaced from the village seven years back, he took up labor work to feed his family and educate his children. If he had agreed to join CPN (Maoist) party and openly voted for the party -- a demand he alleges the Maoists made of him -- he would have already got back his property. But he did not comply.

His misery did not end at that. "I can't express how much I cried when my name and photo was published in Gorkhapatra daily in the list of bank defaulters," says Hamal. "No one tried to understand our problem, not even the government."

Hamal's misery is not an isolated case. He represents 75 percent of 210 families who have nothing after CPN (Maoist) land-grabbers seized their property. The people robbed of their land have been lobbying for implementation of Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA), which calls on Maoists to return seized property. "But nothing has happened," Hamal adds.

According to District Administration Office, Kailali, Maoists have seized 3,200 bigha land belonging to 210 households. The number of displaced families because of this land-grab is 525.

According to Lila Dhar Bhandari, president of Conflict Victims Society, Maoists in the district have distributed many land holdings to their party cadres in the name of landless squatters and freed Kamaiyas.

In some places, Maoists themselves are using land in the name of commune farming. "After signing the CPA, they (Maoists) announced they would return some land in Kailali, but this has not happened at the local level," Bhandari, whose eight-bigha land is in Maoist, control said.

Maoists have claimed they have not seized land from people with less than 10 bighas. "Besides me, 60 percent of displaced families have less than 10 bighas," he added.

However, Bhagat Badwal, district In-charge of CPN (Maoist) and elected member to the  Constituent Assembly claims most of the land has been returned. He further claims only 1800 bighas of seized land remains with Maoists.

Will Hamal and others get back their land now that the Maoists have emerged the single largest party and are set to lead a new government? Unlikely, at least in the foreseeable future.

Hamal says Maoists have asked him to keep quiet until they form the government,  write a new constitution and their chairman Puspa Kamal Dahal becomes president.

Until then, CPA and land grab victims have to wait.