Under Secretary at the Internal Affairs Ministry of Far Western province Birendra Bahadur KC has expressed second opinion in the report of the probe committee formed to investigate rape and murder of teenager Nirmala Panta and called the then chief of Kanchanpur Police SP Dilli Raj Bista an accomplice in the case.
He has recommended Bista be jailed for at least five years for torturing Dilip Singh Bista to force him plead guilty.
KC has argued that the fact that SP Bista wrote to the central forensic laboratory of Nepal Police to correct the details of samples on August 26 after mentioning recovery of blue underwear with Amit Gold printed in it, blue inner vest, and a grey jeans half-paint in the field report on August 20 and sending them to the laboratory for examinations proves that he is an accomplice.
He has also contended that the police personnel who rinsed Nirmala Panta's innerwear, and washed her genitals and thighs should also be considered accomplice now that the clothes have gone missing. He has pointed that the fact that thumbprint of Nirmala's father Yagya Raj was forged on the day when the father was in India also shows that the police are complicit.
The new General Criminal Code recommends equal or half the punishment of the guilty person for the accomplices.
KC has opined that the fact that the police photocopied the notebook of Anita Bam's friend Bidya Panta to provide alibi for Anita also proves police complicity. Bidya Panta in her statement has said that she cannot be sure if Bam had come to the tuition center (Mirai Education Visa Center) on the day Nirmala went missing and police photocopied her notebook. Anita Bam, on the other hand, claimed that she went to the tuition center that day and sat beside Bidya Panta.
The fact that Bam's father came to request promoter of the tuition center to give a statement that his daughter was present on the day and police photocopied Bidya's notebook also shows police complicity.
KC has opined that in-charge of Ward Police Office Jagadish Bhatta is also an accomplice as he was not serious about recovery of Nirmala's cycle and Gopal Chadhary who stayed in his nephew's house gave different versions about recovery of the cycle. KC has also pointed that the police mentioned that Nirmala's notebook was in water in the field report but did not mention that the letters she had printed with a gel-pen with blue ink were not smudged and the copy was not soaked.
SP Bista had held a press conference on August 20 and claimed that Dilip Singh Bista, 41, of Bhimdutta-19 was the main accused and produced him before the Kanchanpur District Court. The District Government Attorney Office later released Bista after DNA samples collected from Nirmala Panta's body did not match with that of Bista. Bista has claimed that police tortured him to plead guilty.
KC in his second opinion has mentioned that torture of Dilip Singh Bista to force him to plead guilty by SP Bista attracts clause 89 of the General Criminal Code that prohibits presenting fake evidence and creation of false situations. The clause recommends jail sentence of five years and fine of Rs 50,000 for anyone involved in such activities.
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.
The locals have been claiming that Bista was framed by the police to save the real culprits. Nirmala’s father 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 but DNA of the trio did not match with samples collected from body of Nirmala Panta.
