Alam to depose before court today as well

Rautahat, November 6  

Rautahat District Court could not complete recording statement of suspended lawmaker of Nepali Congress Mohammad Aftab Alam on the second day as well.

Alam was produced at the court at 10:00am today and his statement was recorded till 4:30pm. As many as 23 questions were posed to Alam in today’s trial. On the first day nine questions were asked. Thirty-two questions in total have been posed to Alam in two days.

District government attorney Khadindraraj Katuwal said Alam was asked questions and his statement was recorded at the bench of District Judge Dipak Dhakal. Judge Dhakal had asked Alam questions about the incident, such as what had actually happened and allegations labelled against him.

Alam refuted allegations labelled against him. Alam told the judge that the incident never occurred and he was being framed. He refuted all the evidence and documents presented by the police. Recording Alam’s statement on the murder case has been completed today. He will be asked questions and his statements will be recorded on attempt to murder and bomb explosion cases tomorrow, said advocate Pushparaj Poudel.

Alam has been sent to police custody as the court has not completed recording his statements.

A charge-sheet has been filed against the suspended lawmaker in connection with the Rajpur blast and the subsequent murders of the injured and witnesses.

As per the police recommendation, District Government Attorney’s Office today filed a 39-page charge-sheet at the District Court, Rautahat. Police had presented 800-page investigation report, along with its recommendation, seeking imprisonment until death or life imprisonment along with confiscation of his property on the charge of murder. Alam has also been charged with attempted murder and for causing explosion.

Ten other persons accused in the charge-sheet have been absconding.

Other accused were Mohammad Mahatab Alam, Mohammad Mobin Alam, Shekh Bhadai, Shekh Seraj, Shekh Fajale Haq, Sagir Alam, Shekh Malakar, Gauri Shankar Sah, Badri Sahani and Mukti Sah. Police have asked the court to issue arrest warrants against them.

Police report has mentioned the then inspector general of police Om Bikram Rana as a witness in the case. Rana, in his statement recorded with police, has mentioned that he was informed about the incident and he had directed police to punish the guilty as per the law.

Police have also recorded the statements of the then central region chief deputy inspector general Kiran Gautam and the then government attorney Dhrubamani Gyawali.

The charge-sheet also included recorded statements of the then inspectors Indra Subedi and Rajiv Basnet, who were posted at Rajpur at the time of the incident.