Kathmandu, July 8

Chhabilal Paudel, 68, a resident of former Phujel VDC of Gorkha accused of murdering  Krishna Prasad Adhikari, today surrendered before the Supreme Court following which he was sent to Dillibazar Prison.

The SC had, on December 21, 2015, struck down lower court’s order to release him on bail. Arrest of Paudel is one of the key demands of Krishna Prasad Adhikari’s mother Ganga Maya who has been staging hunger strike at Bir Hospital since May 29. Chhabilal Paudel today submitted an application at the SC, seeking to be sent to judicial custody during the trial of the case, said Supreme Court Spokesperson Bhadrakali Pokharel.

On April 17, 2014, Chitwan District Court had ordered to release Chhabilal Paudel on bail. The order was endorsed by Appellate Court Hetauda on June 18, 2015.

At a press conference organised on May 29, Ganga Maya Adhikari had said that she would continue her hunger strike until Chhabilal Poudel, his son Parshuram Paudel and nephew Bhimsen Paudel, Ram Prasad Adhikari and Januka Paudel, who have been accused of murdering her son Krishna Prasad during the Maoist insurgency on June 6, 2004, were arrested. She had also said that Chhabilal Poudel, the main accused, was roaming freely and the government had failed to arrest him.

Victim Krishna Prasad Adhikari’s father Nanda Prasad, who had staged hunger strike demanding punishment for his son’s killer, died on September 22, 2014 after 329 days of fast-unto-death at Bir Hospital.

Nanda Prasad’s body is still at Maharajgunj-based Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital as the Adhikari family has been refusing to receive the body.