An arrest warrant has been issued for Ritesh Sharma, president of the Krishna Nagar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who had filed a complaint against Nepali Congress lawmaker Abhishek Pratap Shah.
Sharma had filed a complaint against lawmaker Shah and Krishna Nagar Municipality Mayor Rajat Pratap Shah, accusing them of physically assaulting him.
Following the complaint, Kapilvastu Police registered a case and obtained arrest warrants from the district court on Thursday.
After the warrants were issued, lawmaker Shah and Mayor Shah went out of contact. On Friday morning, however, complainant Sharma also became unreachable, prompting police to obtain an arrest warrant for him as well.
Following the issuance of arrest warrants for the lawmaker and the mayor, their supporters have shut down the Krishna Nagar market area. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry, meanwhile, has said that it will oppose the move.
Lawmaker Shah was elected to the House of Representatives from Kapilvastu-3 in the last election on a Nepali Congress ticket.
Sharma had filed a complaint accusing Shah of attempted murder, alleging that a group of 15 to 20 people had attacking him on Shah’s instructions. On Friday, however, police also obtained an arrest warrant for Sharma on charges of criminal mischief.
Manohar Prasad Bhatta, chief of the District Police Office, Kapilvastu, said that search in ongoing for all three accused individuals from both sides.
“After the court issued the arrest warrants, all three are being searched for. So far, none of them has been arrested,” he said.
Memorandum submitted demanding withdrawal of case
A group has submitted a memorandum to Chief District Officer Janardan Gautam demanding that the case filed against lawmaker Shah and the mayor be withdrawn. The memorandum claims that lawmaker Shah and Mayor Shah had taken the initiative to establish the facts surrounding the incident that occurred on July 12.
It accuses some individuals of using the incident as a means of political vendetta and filing a false attempted-murder complaint.
The memorandum also claims that Sitaram Sharma (Ritesh Sharma) himself mentioned in his statements to the court and the District Police Office that he was taking medication for depression. Based on this, it alleges that a case was advanced to serve political interests by portraying an imaginary incident as real.
The group has demanded that the cases be withdrawn immediately, that innocent people not be arrested, and that a fair investigation be conducted.
It has warned that it will launch peaceful protests if the case is not withdrawn or if the arrest process is moved forward.
