Kathmandu, September 27

Police have seized hard disks of CCTV cameras installed in Hotel Opera of Bhimdatta Municipality, Kanchanpur, for the purpose of criminal investigation in connection with the rape and murder of Nirmala Panta.

The crime scene is around three kilometres from the hotel where Kiran Bista, son of suspended Kanchanpur district police chief Superintendent of Police Dilliraj Bista had thrown a birthday party on July 26, the day before Nirmala’s body was found.

The hard disks of CCTV camera have been brought to Nepal Police Headquarters and are being analysed by technicians to ascertain if the footage of July 26 could be recovered as the needle of suspicion points to SP Bista’s son Kiran.

Since the CCTVs could store only 15 days of recording and local police seized their hard disks a month later, technicians are having a tough time finding the footage.

Senior Superintendent of Police Shailesh Thapa Kshetri, Nepal Police spokesperson, said police would know about the persons who attended the birthday party if the footage were recovered.

As per the CCTV Camera Installation and Operation Procedure implemented by the government, a surveillance camera should have the capacity of storing at least three months of visualisation. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs had directed Kanchanpur District Administration office to initiate action against the hotel owner.