SARLAHI, JUNE 26

The Chairman of Ishworpur Municipality's Ward No 3, Surya Kumar Shrestha, was buried alive in a pit in Sarlahi last night after a dispute with a JCB driver.

Shrestha was overseeing work to upgrade a pond at Bhaktipur that was under way in the municipality. He was having dinner with contractor Premraj Dahal and JCB driver Harka Bahadur Tamang at a restaurant near the pond last night where a dispute ensued between Shrestha and Tamang.

While returning from the restaurant at around 10:00pm, the dispute took an ugly turn and the JCB driver hit Shrestha, 55, with the JCB's bucket and buried him in the pit, Superintendent of Police Santosh Singh Rathaur told THT. A preliminary investigation showed that Tamang killed Shrestha in a fit of rage.

A police team reached the site immediately after learning about the incident. Cops found Shrestha unconscious and rushed him to Malangawa District Hospital, where doctors pronounced him brought dead.

Police have arrested JCB contractor Premraj Dahal, 35, and JCB driver Tamang, 38, for interrogation. Tamang was nabbed this morning, whereas Dahal was held last night itself. Both are in the custody of District Police Office, Malangawa.

Shrestha's body has been kept at Malangawa District Hospital for post-mortem.

A version of this article appears in the print on June 27 2021, of The Himalayan Times.