Yograj Dhakal (Regal) of Banke has surrendered to the police after the Supreme Court revoked the government’s decision to grant him presidential clemency and ordered his immediate arrest on Thursday.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Narayan Dangi said that Dhakal surrendered to Banke Police at Setu BK Chowk in Nepalgunj on Thursday afternoon.
“We had searched for Regal after the Supreme Court order. He surrendered to the police at Setu BK Chowk,” DSP Dangi told Setopati. “He has said that he will abide by the Supreme Court’s order.”
Dhakal has been kept at District Police Office, Banke.
DSP Dangi said that where Dhakal will be sent will be finalized once they receive an order from above.
The full bench including Acting Chief Justice (CJ) Ishwore Prasad Khatiwada, and Justices Sapana Pradhan Malla and Kumar Chudal issuing a mandamus on Thursday also ordered to seek consent of the victims while granting clemency to the perpetrators.
The bench also instructed the defendants to take clemency decision only after revealing objective grounds and appropriate reasons.
Dhakal was released from Tulsipur Prison on the occasion of Constitution Day on September 20 after President Ram Chandra Paudel granted him clemency on the government’s recommendation.
Dhakal and his gang had killed Chetan Manandhar in Nepalgunj on July 13, 2015. A bench of the then Banke District Court Judge Bishnu Subedi in April 2019 had slapped a life term on Dhakal to go with confiscation of all his properties. It had also slapped jail terms ranging from three years to 10 years on 12 others involved in Dhakal’s killing.
Chetan’s wife Bharati Manandhar had moved the SC after Dhakal’s release.
Hearing the petition filed by Bharati, a bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Sharma had earlier ordered the defendants to furnish a written response by 5 PM, October 11. The bench had also ordered that the hearing on the petition be given top priority and set the final hearing on the petition by a full bench for October 12 but it could not be heard that day.
The bench had also ruled that Attorney General Din Mani Pokharel should come to defend the government's decision during the final hearing.
Dhakal has yet to serve 11 years 11 months 5 days of his prison sentence.
