KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 14
Sankhuwasabha District Court has sent all 15-murder accused, including eight police personnel to judicial custody.
In August, a home ministry probe team formed under the Director of Department of Prison Kamal Prasad Pandey found that seven police personnel and eight inmates at Sankhuwasabha prison beat two inmates - Binod Tolangi, 19, of Khandbari, Sankhuwasabha, and Akash Balami aka Bikash Shrestha, 28, of Nuwakot to death on August 9. A single bench of Judge Teknath Gautam denied bail to all of the 15 defendants.
Among the police personnel accused of murder are ASI Laxmi Chaudhary, members of the police Suman Gurung, Daman Singh Rai, Rajkumar Shrestha, Pawan Kumar Mahato and Nutan Rai. All these accused were sent to Dhankuta prison.
Prison inmates accused of murder Ram Karki, Anish Sharma Kattel, Sachin Rai, Suman Sarumagar, Tikaraj Chauhan, Navin Kumar Rai, Min Bahadur Tamang and Indradhoj Ghimire were sent to Terhathum district prison. District Court, Sankhuwasabha employee Ayam Kafle said the court sent the accused inmates and police personnel to different jails of the neighbouring district keeping in mind the security sensitivity.
The government filed murder case against the 15 accused demanding life term for the defendants.
At 1:10am on August 9 the two-jail inmate Binod Tolangi, and Akash Balami aka Bikash Shrestha broke open the window of their cell and went towards the exit gate in an attempt to escape from jail but were apprehended by security personnel deployed at the jail. Security personnel deployed under the command of ASI Laxmi Chaudhary first beat the two men and handed them over to other jail inmates who too beat them brutally.
Both inmates were rushed to the nearby hospital at around 5:00am.
One was declared dead on arrival and another died at the hospital while undergoing treatment.
The National Human Rights Commission and Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC) had separately investigated the incident.
First the cops beat the two who were trying to escape, later the inmatesinside the jail thrashed them to death
A version of this article appears in the print on September 15, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
