Dhangadi, December 18

Kanchanpur police have disavowed any knowledge about negative test result of DNA report of Pradip Rawal and Bishal Chaudhary, who were arrested lately in connection with the rape and murder of Nirmala Panta of Bhimdattanagar, Kanchanpur.

“As the DNA report hasn’t reached us, we can’t say anything for sure. Once we get the report, we will make it public,” said Kanchanpur Police Chief SP Kuber Kathayat. A team of Central Investigation Bureau had arrested Rawal from Kathmandu on December 6, while Chaudhary was held from Kanchanpur itself the next day and then taken to the Capital.

It’s important to note that more than 10 persons’ DNA samples, including that of then Kanchanpur SP Dilliraj Bista have been matched with Nirmala’s vaginal swab in the course of the investigation, but the DNA test reports have failed to match.

Meanwhile, Nirmala’s mother Durgadevi and Dilipsingh Bista’s brother Khadka Singh Bista filed FIRs at the District Police Office of  Kanchanpur yesterday against police officers involved in the  preliminary investigation of Nirmala’s rape and murder, demanding stern punishment against them.

Dilipsingh is the person police had wrongly  identified and paraded as the main suspect in the rape and murder of the  13-year-old girl, earlier. While Durgadevi filed an FIR under obstruction of public justice identifying then Kanchanpur SP and police inspector Jagadish Bhatta as effacing evidence and other police officers as accomplices, Khadga Singh filed another FIR against them under offence of torture meted out to an innocent person.

The FIRs have sought stern action against then DSP Gyan Bahadur Sethi and Inspector Ekindra Khadka,among others.