The monarchy may be holding fort in Kathmandu and the other large urban pockets of this Himalayan kingdom, but the writ of King Gyanendra does not appear to lie beyond these places.

As one moves away from the bigger towns, the presence of Maoist rebels becomes visible.

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The rebels appeared to be in full command in large parts of Bardia district in north-western Nepal.

The Maoists have their own FM channel -- Rashtriya Jan Gantantra Nepal -- blaring out their daily news bulletin in violation of the government ban on news on all 43 private FM radio channels across Nepal.

While local cops, including the armed police, rarely venture out once it gets dark, military soldiers too move only in groups or contingents and only in vehicles.

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Everything comes to a standstill at 8pm, when even uniformed gun-toting cops and soldiers are as reluctant to step out on the streets as any commoner.

Nepalese security forces can be seen at every step as one crosses the Indo-Nepal border at Nepalgunj from India's most populous northern state, Uttar Pradesh.

Uniformed men of the Nepalese civil police and the Nepalese Armed Security Force can be seen poised for any eventuality inside their barbed-wire fenced units in different parts of Nepalgunj town.

Nepalgunj is northwest Nepal's busiest commercial hub.

Every road junction here is a police picket with barrels of semi-automatic rifles peeping out of holes between systematically stacked sand bags, which serve as bunkers.

The impact of the royal regime is visible for the next 20km along the east-west national highway from Nepalgunj.

However, barely 15 km further down in Bansgarhi village in Bardia district, the scene is different.

Not to talk about men in uniform, even the local police station looks abandoned.

"No government functionary dares to come here; the Royal Nepalese Army personnel come and survey from helicopters these days", remarked a local shopkeeper.

As if on cue, within minutes of his mentioning this two army helicopters flew over the main market and moved ahead towards the district headquarter at Guleria.

"The last that we saw the Royal Nepalese Army here was some three months ago, when a huge contingent raided the local lodges and some houses in search of Maoists... but it was of no avail", the shopkeeper told this correspondent.

"I am sure the king's soldiers knew that the Maoists were nowhere near, else they would have never carried out any raid," commented another young trader.

"Don't you know they are too scared of Maoists?", he asked.

All in the villages around shares the sentiment, be it Bhurigaon or even the smaller hamlets along the dusty 36 km diversion to Guleria -- all targets of Maoist attacks in the past.

"No wonder not a single cop was in sight anywhere when nearly 1500 Maoists took out a rally in Bansgarhi, barely three weeks back," a tea-stall owner quipped.

"It is we simple people who remain at the receiving end as we must bow down before the wishes of all powerful Maoists as also face humiliation and harassment at the hands of arrogant policemen, who take out all their frustration on us", he went on to add.

A government official said on the condition of anonymity, "The manner in which Maoists have spread their tentacles clearly shows that nearly half the nation is under their control, the tall claims of the government notwithstanding."