FIR filed almost one year after ex-ambassador Jha’s murder

Kathmandu, August 18

Acting on an FIR police arrested a person in connection with the murder of former ambassador of Nepal to France, Keshav Raj Jha. Jha was killed in his house at Babar Mahal, on August 20, last year.

After one year of the incident, deceased’s wife Gyanu Jha, 76, had filed an FIR accusing Sanu Kanchha Tamang of killing her husband on August 14, at Metropolitan Police Range, Teku.

Sanu Kanchha Tamang aka Kanchha was arrested from Kavre and brought to Kathmandu on August 16.

“We arrested Tamang from his village in Kavre on the basis of the FIR,” said Senior Superintendent of Police Sahakul Bahadur Thapa at Metropolitan Police Crime Division, Teku. Tamang worked as a cook-cum-guard in the house of Jha and was detained and interrogated by police on several occasions as one of the prime suspects in the case. But, he was released due to lack of substantial evidence, according to police. Tamang worked in Jha’s house for seven years. Only three persons — Jha, his wife Gyanu and Tamang — were in the two-storey building at the night of the incident. Besides Tamang, police had also nabbed part-time workers at Jha’s house, gardener Aitasingh Tamang and cook Jay Bahadur Tamang as prime suspects following the incident. But, all three were released as police could not collect sufficient evidence to prove their involvement in the crime. Police had also conducted polygraph test on three of them, which was not helpful. Police were also unable to detect fingerprints on the kitchen knife which was used to kill Jha. He was stabbed at least four times in his head and couple of times in the chest.

The weapon used in the murder was found stuck in the sweatshirt Jha was wearing that night.

MPCD Teku after detaining the three for several days with the permission of the district court had ultimately freed them as they were not able to collect substantial evidence to prove their guilt in the crime.

A family member of Gyanu told THT that she was accompanied by her daughter Dr Rajshree Jha and son Dr Kiran Raj Jha to file the complaint at the police. Her son and daughter, who stay abroad, were in Nepal to attend the first death anniversary of their father.