RAUTAHAT, AUGUST 10
Four months after a murder, Rautahat police finally detained the person behind the crime. Everyone thought he would be tried for murder, but surprisingly, police ended up initiating a case against him for indecent behaviour, much to the dismay of locals waiting for justice.
Seventy-year-old Shekh Taiyab of Rautahat's Dewahi Gonahi Municipality was murdered on the night of May 25. Police arrested a local of Dewahi Gonahi Municipality and an Indian national in connection with the murder. But instead of pressing a murder case against them, police filed an indecent behaviour case against the duo. This has made the locals sceptical about the police motive.
The arrested duo, Shekh Saraj of Dewahi Gonahi and Rakesh Kushwaha of India, are being investigated for indecent behaviour. The main suspects in the murder, Dewahi Gonahi's former ward chairperson Shekh Nurullah, and Shekh Saddham, among others, are still at large. Nurullah was also the mastermind behind the murder of the priest of Hanuman temple in Madhav Narayan Municipality.
In connection with the priest's murder, Nurullah remained at large for long before he secretly presenting himself at the court and then mysteriously secured his release by posting a bail of Rs 200,000. The investigation so far has shown that Nurullah, upon his release, had killed Shekh Taiyab to protect himself and frame those who are against him.
As per sources, Nurullah was allowed to flee with police help after the CIB ascertained that Nurullah had planned the murder of Shekh Taiyab.
It's also worth noting that police haven't made public Kushwaha and Seraj though they were arrested one month ago. Police, when questioned, confirmed that two persons have been arrested but said they couldn't initiate the murder case as they hadn't got the CIB's report.
"As the duo's involvement in the murder has been revealed, we are preparing to sue them for murder," said SP Bir Bahadur Budha Magar of District Police Office Rautahat.
A version of this article appears in the print on August 11, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
