DHANGADHI: Police have started interrogating Roshni Bam and her sister Babita Bam who were detained on Sunday for further investigation into rape and murder of 13-year-old Nirmala Panta of Bhimdatta Municipality.

Deputy Superintendent of Police and Investigation Coordinator Krishna Ojha informed that the Bam sisters were questioned on Thursday.

The sister duo were arrested in connection with Panta’s rape and murder and held in detention following Kanchanpur District Court’s order to remand them in custody for six days.

Although the remand period ends in three days, it can be extended as per necessity, according to Superintendent of Police Kuber Kathayat.

The district of Kanchanpur had witnessed series of violent clashes that left one teenager dead and 13 injured as people took to the streets demanding arrest of the “real culprit” behind Panta’s rape and murder.

Meanwhile, the 41-year-old man, who was accused of the rape and subsequent murder of Nirmala Panta, was taken to Kathmandu for health check-up on August 28, 2018.

Sniffer dogs not used

DHANGADHI: Though a dog section was set up under the provincial police office about six months ago, police have shown little interest in using trained dogs for probing the Nirmala murder case.

There are four trained dogs at Dhangadi-based dog section. Province 7 police chief DIG Suraj KC disavowed any knowledge about whether dogs had been used in the investigation and said, “As SP Bikram Chand is charged with carrying out the probe, he must know it.” While Chand himself answered in the negative, Kanchanpur police chief SP Kuber Kathayat didn’t rule out the prospect of dogs being used for probe. Meanwhile, locals see police not using dogs as utter negligence.