A five-member investigation team led by Deputy Inspector General of Police Durga Singh of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), which was formed to investigate Nirmala Pant’s murder after the instructions of the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Ravi Lamichhane, has started a thorough investigation in Kanchanpur. While the investigation team of the CIB and the team of the District Police Office Kanchanpur are continuing the investigation on a regular basis, after the instructions of the Home Minister Lamichhane, another team led by Singh and experts has been dispatched to Kanchanpur and started the investigation.
Spokesperson of Nepal Police, Deputy Inspector General of Police Tek Prasad Rai said that a five-member team led by DIG Singh is investigating the Nirmala murder case. According to him, the investigation was continued by the team led by the CIB SP and the district investigation officer. He said that as soon as the investigation officer is transferred to the district, the investigation will continue by appointing a new officer until the culprit is found. He said that although there is a team led by SP of CIB, a team led by police inspector is deployed in the district and investigating. “It is not that the investigation was stopped before, it was being done regularly,” said spokesperson Rai, “After the instructions of the Home Minister, this expert team will investigate and bring out the facts as soon as possible about the weaknesses and mistakes in the investigation so far.” DIG Singh, who is leading the investigation, had earlier reached Kanchanpur to investigate the murder of Nirmala Pant.
Singh, who has both her home and her mother-in-law in Kanchanpur, is a familiar face among the locals. An official said that it was understood that Singh was given the responsibility because the truth comes out when an acquaintance is assigned to the investigation. According to police sources, the investigation team has detained some suspects and conducted DNA tests. Officials of Kanchanpur District Police refused to give information about Nirmala’s murder investigation.
It is understood that the leadership of Kanchanpur police, who gave information easily earlier, did not want to give any information about the Nirmala murder investigation due to the above order. Spokesman Rai has provided the data that 115 DNA tests have been done so far, but two more Indian citizens have been DNA tested, sources said.
Home Minister Lamichhane made the first decision to speed up the investigation into the Nirmala Pant murder case, which has remained a mystery for four years. It is not easy to find the facts of Nirmala Pant’s killer as the police destroyed all the evidence at the scene of Nirmala Pant’s murder. Even though the police is using DNA, it has been mentioned in the report of the National Human Rights Commission that DNA should not be relied upon.
Various investigations and studies have been conducted before to investigate the murder case. The National Human Rights Commission, the High Level Investigation Committee led by the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the investigation team led by AIG Dhiru Basnet, and the investigation team led by DIG Suraj KC investigated and studied the Nirmala Pant murder. Apart from DIG KC, the investigation by other teams pointed out weaknesses including destruction of evidence at the scene of the incident.
In the last five months alone, 10 people have had their DNA tested. The police say that the suspect will be interrogated. Police said that 665 people have been questioned in writing so far. Spokesperson Rai says that the culprit of Nirmala Pant’s murder has not been found yet. “In the investigation of the crime, until the culprit is arrested, the progress of the investigation seems to be zero,” spokeswoman Rai said.
On June 24, 2018, 13-year-old Nirmala Pant, who had gone to study at her friend Roshni Bam’s house, went missing. On the morning of her second day (11th), Nirmala’s dead body was found lying in a nearby sugarcane field. Four days after the incident, on July 14, Nirmala’s relatives found the body and cremated it. The police concluded that she was raped and killed. The police also burnt the inner clothes on his body, while the copy books, bicycle and other evidences found at the scene, including finger and foot prints, were destroyed without collecting them. It is not yet clear whether the reason for its destruction was accidental or deliberate.
However, under the coordination of AIG Dhiru Basnyat, the police formed a detailed investigation team to study the reasons for destroying the evidence. According to the team’s report, the then chief of police, Superintendent of Police Dilli Bista and Police Inspector Jagdish Bhatt, were dismissed so that they would not be disqualified in the future, while six policemen, including DSP Angur JC and Gyan Bahadur Sethi, were suspended. Now all the policemen have returned to work after being acquitted by the court. The review inquiry committee formed by the then IGP Sarvendra Khanal under the coordination of DIG Suraj KC suggested not to implement the report of the then AIG Dhiru Basnyat. The Secretariat of the Inspector General of Police directed that the report not be implemented.
Published: Jan 6, 2023 19:13 Friday
