Kathmandu, August 18:

Lawyers of Charles Gurumukh Sobhraj today accused foreign forces, prosecuting agencies and police of arresting their client without concrete evidence.

During today’s hearing, senior advocate Basanta Ram Bhandari accused the international forces of piling pressure on the state to book Sobhraj and the government authorities of following their order.

He was pleading before a division bench of Justices Min Bahadur Rayamajhi and Kalyan Shrestha.

The international forces have been plotting to punish Sobhraj, Bhandari alleged.

The Kathmandu District Court and the Patan Appellate Court had convicted Sobhraj of killing American citizen Connie Jo Bronzich in Nepal in 1975.

Advocate Lokbhakta Rana said the prosecuting agencies lacked concrete evidence, adding that lower courts had convicted him erroneously. The lower courts issued faulty verdicts without examining evidence, he said.

Advocate Laxmi Sharma Devkota, wife of Maoist CA member Khim Lal Devkota, and Shakultala Thapa, mother of Sobhraj’s fiancée Nihita Biswas, also defended Sobhraj.

The two claimed that the prosecuting agencies had not produced concrete evidence against Sobhraj.

“This is the conspiracy of the media and the prosecuting agencies.”

Advocate Rajaram Dhakal said that since lower courts had convicted Sobhraj on the basis of circumstantial evidence, the apex court should intervene to acquit Sobhraj of all charges.

The prosecuting lawyers will submit their counter claim during the next hearing

on August 28.