CPN-UML leader and former lawmaker Laxmi Mahato Koiri has been arrested.
Koiri was taken into custody by police on Thursday evening from the CPN-UML party office premises in Gaushala-5, Mahottari, following the Janakpur High Court's verdict on Wednesday that sentenced him to five years in prison in connection with the murder of Armed Police Force (APF) Assistant Sub-inspector (ASI) Thaman BK.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Panchalal Gole, spokesperson for the District Police Office, Mahottari, confirmed that Koiri, a resident of Gaushala-2, was arrested in accordance with the court’s judgment. He has since been transported to the district headquarters, Jaleshwar.
Previoulsy, the Mahottari District Court had acquitted Koiri in the same case on December 14, 2023.
While the legal proceedings were ongoing, Koiri was elected to the House of Representatives from Mahottari-1 on a CPN-UML ticket in the 2022 elections. He also stood as a candidate in the most recent election held in March, where he was defeated.
ASI BK was brutally beaten in the streets of Jaleshwar during the Madhesh Movement in September 2015.
While being transported by ambulance from Jaleshwar to Janakpur for further medical treatment, a group of individuals ambushed the vehicle, dragged him out, and beat him to death.
