Gaurishankar Ram Chamar, an Indian citizen who was injured in a bomb blast in Rautahat in 2008, has arrived in Kathmandu after Nepali Congress leader Mohammad Aftab Alam was acquitted.
Chamar, who hails from Sitamarhi in Bihar, held a press conference at Bhrikuti Mandap in Kathmandu on Sunday.
Chamar was injured when a bomb kept at Alam’s house to allegedly rig the Constituent Assembly election exploded on April 9, 2008.
On May 28, the Birgunj bench of Janakpur High Court acquitted Alam and three others. Justices Khusi Prasad Tharu and Arjun Mahrjan ruled that there was no evidence to confirm whether a blast even occurred.
During the press conference, Chamar said, “That day, I went to the house to collect money. Someone told me to take the money and leave. I had just reached the door when the bomb exploded. When the fire started, I ran. There was water behind the house; I poured it on myself and fled again.”
He said he was unaware of what happened afterward and that he regained consciousness in Sitamarhi. He received treatment at a hospital there, incurring expenses of INR 350,000, he added.
Chamar claimed that when he went to the police office to give a statement, Alam’s men threatened his mother, saying her son was gone and wouldn’t survive long.
Chamar had also filed a complaint in connection with the incident, but the high court dismissed his complaint and statement as evidence. The court noted that the hospital prescription indicated injuries from a stove explosion, not a bomb blast.
He said the bomb blast injuries had made it difficult for him to find work. “It’s hard to get work. Even when I do, they tell me to take money and leave within seven or eight days,” he added.
Chamar said that he learned of Alam’s acquittal much later.
