KATHMANDU, July 17, 2008 (AFP) - Former Maoist rebels who tortured and killed a Nepalese restaurant owner should be punished, officials said Thursday, in a case that will test the country's Maoist lawmakers on human rights.

Fast food restaurant owner Ram Hari Shrestha's family say he was abducted from his house in April and beaten to death by a group of former Maoist rebels who rented the home from him.

They falsely accused him of stealing 26,000 dollars and a handgun from the rented property, the family say.

His body was found a month later along a riverbank, with the case sparking widespread anger toward the Maoists, who have long been accused of rights abuses.

A three-member Judicial Commission was ordered to investigate the case after his family called for a proper probe.

Rajendra Bhandari, chairman of the commission, said the panel concluded that eight former Maoist rebels were behind the murder.

'The findings show that former Maoist rebels abducted Kathmandu-based fast food restaurant owner Ram Hari Shrestha, a supporter of the ultra-leftists, from his house,' Bhandari said.

'He was taken to a UN-monitored Maoist camp in April and beaten to death.'

The group called for the government to punish those involved.

'We have recommended the government to take strong action against them. It is for the court to decide what kind of action should be taken,' said Bhandari who has submitted a 150-page report on the murder to interim prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala.

The Maoists, who laid down their arms after a decade of fighting and joined a multi-party democracy in 2006, have admitted that their members were responsible for the abduction and killing.

'The killing of the businessman was an isolated case. It was against the party's policy and we are ready to help the government to take action against those who have been found guilty,' Maoist deputy commander, Barsha Man Pun, told AFP Thursday.

The Maoists are about to form a government after winning a majority of seats in an assembly that will write a new constitution for Nepal.

The Shrestha case is being watched by rights advocates as an indicator of the former rebels' stance on human rights.