Nepal Police has clarified that DNA tests of the suspended SP Dilli Raj Bista, his son Kiran and Aayush Bista, nephew of Mayor of Bhimdutta municipality Surendra Bista were also conducted at the National Forensic Laboratory and not just the forensic laboratory of Nepal Police.
Nepal Police headquarters issued a press statement on Monday to inform so following widespread criticism of conducting the tests at the police laboratory after reports emerged on Sunday that DNA of the trio has not matched with samples collected from body of Nirmala Panta who was raped and murdered.
"DNA tests of SP Bista, his son Kiran and Aayush Bista, nephew of Mayor of Bhimdutta municipality Surendra Bista in connection to 13-year-old Nirmala Panta were also conducted at the National Forensic Laboratory and not just at the forensic laboratory of Nepal Police," the press statement reads.
DNA test of Dilip Singh Bista, who was paraded as the main accused by the police, was earlier conducted just in the National Forensic Laboratory.
The body of 13-year-old Panta of Bhimdutta municipality 2, who had gone to a friend’s home for study on July 26, was found at a sugarcane field the next day.
A CIB team led by DSP Angur GC had reached Kanchanpur four days after the incident. Doubts arose about the police investigation after the CIB team and the then SP at Kanchanpur Bista made 41-year-old Dilip Singh Bista, who was mentally challenged, public as the culprit on the 24th day of the incident on August 18.
The District Government Attorney Office released Bista after DNA samples collected from Nirmala Panta’s body did not match with that of Bista.
The locals have been claiming that Bista was framed by the police to save the real culprits. Nirmala’s father Ek Raj has claimed that the police put pressure on him to file a complaint identifying Bista as the main accused.
One boy was killed in police firing and dozens injured in clashes with police as the locals protested for days accusing the police of trying to save the real culprits.
The then SP of Kanchanpur Bista was then suspended for mishandling the case while the CIB sent another team under SSP Thakur Gyawali for investigations.
Samples were then collected for DNA test of the suspended SP Bista, his son Kiran and Aayush Bista, nephew of Mayor of Bhimdutta municipality Surendra Bista to investigate the case. Police personnel involved in preliminary investigation have also undergone lie-detector tests.
Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa has since revealed that the clothes worn by Nirmala Panta were burnt and thumbprint of her father was forged in the field report prepared by the police.
