Rautahat, May 15

District Court Rautahat has written to the District Police Office to implement the one-year prison term handed down to CPN-Maoist Centre lawmaker Kundan Prasad Kuswaha of Province 2 by Appellate Court Hetauda.

The court had sent the letter asking police to execute the appellate court’s verdict on May 2. But, it became public only today.

Many days have passed since police received the letter, but they have yet to arrest Kuswaha elected from Constituency 3 Kha.

A truck loaded with sawed timber was seized from Bara’s Pathlaiya during security check on September 18, 2012. When truck driver Indra Bahadur Manandhar told police that he was taking rice from Rautahat to Pokhara, police had conducted security check. Timber was found beneath the rice. Truck driver Manandhar was sent to District Forest Office, Bara, for action.

When driver Manandhar disclosed that proprietor Kundan Prasad Kuswaha of New Everest Saw Mill was involved in timber smuggling, District Forest Office Bara had filed a case against Kuswaha at the Bara District Court.

The court had convicted driver Manandhar while Kuswaha was given a clean chit. The driver, however, had field the case against Kuswaha at the appellate court in Hetauda.

Appellate court Hetauda had handed one-year jail term to province lawmaker Kuswaha after he was found guilty on August 10, 2015. Kuswaha had appealed against the appellate court’s verdict at the Supreme Court.

Kuswaha said a premeditated conspiracy was being hatched against him.  He claimed that he was not the proprietor of the saw mill then. “I was taken by surprise when I got the letter from the district police office,” Kuswaha said. He said he was ready to abide by the law but it was wrong to get the letter from the appellate court while the case was at the Supreme Court.

SP Rabindra KC at District Police Office, Rautahat, said they would act in line with the law of the land and refused to comment further.