The police say they are investigating Ram Bahadur Bomjon who lives in the guise of an austere sage even as questions are being asked as to why he has not been booked despite reports about the cycles of rapes, murders, disappearances and violence by him in his ashrams.
Five missing complaints and a rape complaint have been lodged since Setopati published a news report titled 'Series of sexual exploitation and violence in Bomjon's ashrams' on December 26 documenting how four persons are missing from his ashram.
What have the police done, what kinds of evidence have they gathered and who have they collected statements from in the intervening period?
A team of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) is handling the case. CIB Spokesperson SP Uma Chaturvedi said district police offices in the four districts where complaints have been lodged—Nuwakot, Makwanpur, Bara and Sarlahi—and those in Sindhupalchowk and Sidhuli, where the ashram from which nuns and disciples have been missing and the one where Bomjon is currently staying are located, are coordinating with the team.
“We have been making raids, and collecting information and statements, and analyzing the evidence we have gathered,” Chaturvedi added.
Mahendra Waiwa of Makwanpur filed a police complaint requesting for search of his father Sancha Lal who went missing from Bomjon's ashramin Sindhupalchowk. Police are investigating after a former disciple of Bomjon claimed he witnessed murder of Sancha Lal in the ashram.
The police have arrested Sancha Lal's friend Indra Man Syangtan, who was allegedly beaten along with missing Waiwa by Bomjon and his disciples four years ago, from another ashram in Paire Dhapasar of Kamalamai-8 in Sindhuli for interrogation.
Eye-witnesses have claimed that Bomjon's disciple Waiwa was beaten to death and his body was buried inside the Sindhupalchowk ashram.
A police team including forensic experts raided the ashram in Bandegaun, Sindhupalchowk on January 4 but could not find any human skeletal remains there. But the team recovered packets of salt torn from the middle while digging at the spot on the hill behind the ashram where the disciple claimed Sancha Lal’s body was buried along with packets of salt.
The police estimate that Bomjon may have exhumed the body and cremated it after the body could not be decomposed soon even with salt. SP with Sindhupalchowk Mukunda Marasini says nothing more can be said with any degree of accuracy as evidence have yet to be found in the case. “We are still digging at suspicious places. We are gathering evidence to make our case stronger,” he added.
Indra Man has claimed ignorance about the murder of Sancha Lal during interrogation but he has crucially failed polygraph test, according to a police source.
The police are also investigating about the missing nuns and disciples apart from the whereabouts of Sancha Lal. “Sindhupalchowk Police has more responsibility as the complaints say the nuns and disciples have been missing from the ashram in the district. We have been summoning the family members of the complainants and interrogating them,” Marasini said.
Mahendra Waiwa of Makwanpur filed a police complaint requesting for search of his father who went to Bomjon's ashram, Hasta Bahadur Ale Magar of Bara in search of his son, Bijay Rumba of Makwanpur for her elder sister and Ganga Maya Tamang of Nuwakot for her younger sister. They all have complained that their relatives have been missing from the ashram in Sindhupalchowk.
The police are also investigating on the complaint of Sumni Bot of Kajiram Tole in Bagmati municipality 12, Sarlahi that claims her daughter Rita has been missing from the Halkhoriya ashram of Bomjon.
SP with Sarlahi Police Posh Raj Pokharel said Rita’s family members and relatives are being interrogated. “We have formed a team of five members. The case is a little complex though as it happened almost a decade ago,” SP Pokharel stated.
He said Sarlahi Police has also written to Bara Police for cooperation as the Halkhoriya ashram is in Bara district.
CIB says it is trying to find facts about the missing five persons. “We have been collecting information about the activities from the time those five went to the ashrams until they went missing. We are trying to find whether they are still alive or not,” CIB Spokesperson Chaturvedi said.
