Bhairahawa, March 11

Nepali Congress’ youth wing Nepal Tarun Dal’s Devdaha Municipal Working Committee member Anish Puri was murdered in Rupandehi last evening.

Rupandehi police have arrested 12 individuals for their alleged involvement in the killing. According to DSP Dilli Malla at Butwal Area Police Office, Puri, who received serious cuts on his head and chest, died while undergoing treatment at Devadaha Medical College. Puri’s body has been kept at Lumbini Province Hospital, Butwal, for post-mortem. He was a twelfth grader at a local school.

Locals say Puri was killed over a minor dispute that broke out regarding vehicle parking at a fair in Devadaha. Police have kept  Ramesh Shahi, Arjun Magar, Akash Thapa, Sishir Rana, and Subash Aryal in the custody for further investigation.

“The process to interrogating the other seven is under way,” said DSP Malla. He said details would be made public after in-depth investigation into the incident. “Two masterminds behind the incident are at large,” said DSP Malla.

Police have launched a manhunt to nab the masterminds Tara Baral and Sagar Rana, said DSP Dharmaraj Bhandari. Meanwhile, locals and students today disrupted vehicular movement at Devdaha road section along Mahendra highway to protest the murder, for some time.

Issuing a separate statement, Nepal Tarun Dal and Nepali Congress Rupandehi chapters condemned the killing and demanded that the guilty be booked.

In the past two years, three persons were murdered while police killed two gangsters in the most wanted list of the police. Manoj Pun and Som Ale were killed in police encounter last year. Pun was behind the murder of Durga Tiwari and Basant Poudel.