Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, March 14:

Hariram Koirala, director general of the Nepal Drinking Water and Sewage Department, Maharajgunj, who is currently in police custody on charges of cooperating with Maoists in murdering Jay Bahadur Rawal, has told the police that he contacted Prakash Gautam alias Aditya through a person surnamed Badu. Police sources said Koirala, during interrogation, claimed that he had no intention of murdering Rawal. “I contacted Aditya with the help of Badu just because I wanted to know whether Rawal, who had demanded Rs 200,000 of me, was really a Maoist or not,” police quoted Rawal as saying. “Koirala told us that he washed his hands of the matter after learning from Ramkumar Karki alias Nabin that Rawal was not a Maoist. He also told us that after Nabin killed Rawal neither Nabin nor Rawal contacted him. He says he had no knowledge of Rawal’s murder,” an investigating officer said. Police said Nabin is in police custody, along with Koirala. Intensive search is on to nab Badu who acted as the go-between in the affair. Meanwhile, Kathmandu District Police Office sought the Special court’s permission to keep Koirala and Nabin in custody for another fifteen days. Police said they needed enough time to interrogate Koirala and complete their investigation before filing a case. Koirala was arrested last Thursday on charge of being hand-in-glove with Maoists in murdering Jay Bahadur Rawal on January 3.