Kathmandu, March 18

More than six months after filing a case with National Human Right Commission against the extra-judicial killing of two persons, NHRC is finally set to form a committee of experts to investigate the case.

Gopal Tamang, 22, and Ajay Tamang,23, were killed in police encounter in Suryabinayak Jungle, Bhaktapur, on August 7. They were gunned down by police a day after 11-year-old Nishan Kadka was kidnapped and allegedly murdered by them. The Tamang duo were daily wagers, who used to work as house painters. The families of Gopal, who hailed from Samari of Nuwakot; and Ajay of Karthali, Sindhupalchowk; had filed a complaint the very next day with NHRC.

They had sought a fact-finding investigation into the incident. Officials of NHRC investigated the crime, but the report was never made public. NHRC officials said that since their investigation team didn’t have forensic ballistic experts, their investigation was not complete.

On February 24, NHRC decided to hire experts to investigate the incident. NHRC, however, has not finalised the probe committee yet.

According to Commissioner at NHRC Govinda Sharma Poudyal, forensic ballistic experts will primarily examine the evidences related to firearms used at the crime scene. “They will examine the firearms used by police and bullets collected from the crime scene. The probe team will also study forensic reports.

Asian Human Rights Commission, issuing a press statement a few days after the incident, had called the encounter of the Tamang duo a staged encounter. AHRC stated, “Police had taken Ajay and Gopal under control from their rented room, had beaten them and asked about the kidnapped boy. The police then took the two men to Doleshwor forest and shot them.” The AHRC had said so quoting various neighbours and eyewitness.

The police, however, had defended the encounter saying that after receiving information about the kidnappers, who were hiding in a nearby forest, they went to the forest. There, the kidnappers pointed a gun at them, and they shot the kidnappers in self-defence.

Meanwhile, Spokesperson for National Human Right Commission Bed Prasad Bhattarai said the probe committee was also likely  to investigate the police encounter of two notorious gangsters Dinesh Adhikari aka ‘Chari’ and Kumar Shrestha aka ‘Ghaite’.

Commissioner Govinda Sharma Poudyal of NHRC said the experts, who will be hired to investigate the encounter of Ajay and Gopal Tamang, would also investigate the cases of Chari and Ghaite. Chari, was shot dead by police on 6 August 2014 in cross firing in Bhim Dhunga.

Ghaite was shot dead by police on August 20, 2015, in Samakhusi, Kathmandu.