• Bistas, Bhimdutta mayor’s nephew to undergo DNA test
• Prime minister’s claim questioned

Kathmandu, September 13

Nepal Police has collected blood samples of suspended Kanchanpur district police chief Superintendent of Police Dilliraj Bista, his son Kiran Bista and another suspect, Aayush Bista, who is a nephew of Bhimdutta Municipality Mayor Surendra Bista, for DNA profiling, which will be used to match with Nirmala Panta’s vaginal swab.

A team of Nepal Police and Forensic Medicine Department of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital led by forensic expert Harihar Osti will compare their DNA profile with that of the rape and murder victim to look for a match. Senior Superintendent of Police Shailesh Thapa Kshetri, who is a Nepal Police spokesperson, said the samples were sent to the forensic lab for DNA testing and analysis.

The needle of suspicion turned to SP Bista, his son Kiran and Aayush after the DNA sample of Dilip Singh Bista, who was framed by the local police as the main accused, did not match with the DNA found on the victim’s body, leading to Dilip’s release on Tuesday. If a DNA profile extracted from a sample at rape and murder scene matches with any of the three samples, the identity of the suspected perpetrator may be established.

“We have initiated the process for their DNA profiling, testing and analysis to see if it matches the victim’s sample,” SSP Kshetri told THT.

DNA evidence helps officials make or break the outcome by testing positive or negative and is a crucial part of investigation and prosecution of all types of crimes. It is also admissible in the court of law and substantiate evidences against the perpetrator.

After Dilip Singh Bista was absolved of the crime, Nepal Police launched a thorough investigation from a new angle to initiate departmental action against the police team of SP Bista and a CIB team led by DSP Angur GC, who were involved in framing Dilip, and to trace the real culprit(s).