CPN-UML lawmaker Laxmi Mahato Koiri, who was suspended after being charged with murder of Armed Police Force ASI Thaman BK, has been acquitted on Thursday.
The bench of Judge Uddhav Prasad Bhattarai of the Mahottari District Court has acquitted Koiri while slapping life sentence on a provincial assembly lawmaker of Madhes and six others.
Provincial assembly member from Loktantrik Samajwadi Party (LSP) Abhiram Sharma, and six others including Pradeep Sah Majhi, Sanjay Sah, Shankar Shahi, Suresh Pandeya and Dharmendra Raya have got life term in the case.
The main accused in the murder case Pawan Kapar and Koiri have been acquitted.
The Janakpur High Court had ordered Koiri be sent to custody for investigation in the case accusing him of encircling and thrashing Armed Police Force ASI Thaman BK to death on September 11, 2015 that subsequently led to his suspension from the House of Representatives (HoR) in May.
Mahato was elected to the House of Representatives from Mahottari-1 in the November 2022 election.
Kapar and Koiri have been acquitted even from the charge of setting an ambulance on fire during the same incident. The seven slapped life term in the murder case have been sentenced for six months and fined Rs 1 million each in the arson case.
A total of 28 persons were charged in the murder case. Just nine of those accused were arrested while the remaining 19 are still absconding. The Mahottari District Court has given its verdict on the nine arrested persons.
