Kathmandu: A new committee has been formed to investigate the Nirmala murder case. Based on the instructions of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane, Nepal Police Headquarter, Naxal has formed a new investigation committee.
Lamichhane had signed the decision to take maximum initiative for Nirmala Pant’s justice when he took over as the Home Minister.
According to sources, Police Headquarter, Naxal has formed a five-member investigation committee under the leadership of Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Durga Singh of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CIB). The committee consists of Bureau Superintendent of Police (SP) Kamal Thapa, Police Inspector Dhirendra Rokaya, including psychiatrist.
They were given a mandate to investigate the Nirmala case from a new direction. Even when Singh was a Superintendent of Police (SP), he reached Kanchanpur and was assigned to investigate the Nirmala murder case. Other members are also officers involved in the investigation of the incident.
On 10 Srawan 2075 BS, the body of Nirmala Pant, a 13-year-old girl from Ooltakham, Bhimdutta Municipality-2, Kanchanpur, was found. The investigation showed that Nirmala, a class 9 girl, was raped and murdered.
The investigating officers at that time sent Nirmala’s “vaginal swab” to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory of the police. Nirmala’s DNA did not match with the DNA extracted from a suspicious man and he was released.
Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Lamichhane visited Police Headquarter, Naxal for inspection on Friday. In that process, he also took information about the progress in the case by keeping the officers including Uttam Raj Subedi, the head of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CIB).
According to an officer who participated in the briefing, the officers had said that the investigation had stalled if they relied only on DNA. They told the current situation and said that the investigation has been started again from a new vein.
According to police sources, so far the police have examined the DNA of 115 suspects in the case. But there was no match with anyone. At the end of the tenure of the then Inspector General of Police Sarbendra Khanal, an attempt was made to re-arrest Bista with the conclusion that he was the accused.
Nirmala’s mother had also filed a complaint against Durga Devi Bista. However, the team of investigating officers withdrew with the conclusion that they could not arrest her without additional grounds.
After listening to the briefing of the police officers, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Lamichhane has given instructions to resolve the incident based on factual evidence. He said, ‘We are ready to help you in any way for this.’
