KATHMANDU, JULY 29

Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police arrested six persons for their alleged involved in killing a 21-yearold man from Kohalpur, Banke.

CIB Spokesperson Shyam Kumar Mahato said it was a premeditated murder and mastermind behind the murder was Sanjeeb Aryal.

He further said that the suspects would be kept in the custody for 25 days for the further investigation into the incident.

Preliminary investigation has shown that the accused had murdered Srijan BK to claim his life insurance amount of Rs 25 million. The arrested are 21-year-old Sapna Malla, 31-year-old Sanjeeb Aryal, 32-year-old Sardar Ahmad Khan, 33-year-old Topa Bahadur Rana Chhetri, 38-year-old Dipak KC and 21-year-old Lalita Sapkota.

According to Central Bureau of Investigation, the group had used Sapna Malla to get her married with BK in papers saying that BK would be taken to Australia on a dependent visa.

Following this, BK bought a life insurance worth 25 million rupees from Reliance Life Insurance Limited. Malla's name was registered as beneficiary in the insurance papers.

But, BK died in a motorcycle accident in Banke's Kohalpur on 15 April 2021. BK, who did not even have a licence to drive a motorcycle, was said to have died after being hit by a minibus driven by a man named Topa Bahadur Rana Chhetri. After the death of the young man in a road accident, the local police office, Kohalpur, initiated an investigation saying it was a road accident. On 28 February 2022, the court sentenced Rana to one month imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 2,000.

Following the court's verdict, Malla received 25 million rupees from Reliance Life Insurance Limited by submitting the death certificate of BK.

Additional Inspector General of Police Uttam Raj Subedi informed that it was found that the money received from the company was shared by the group of six people.

According to the police, 8 million 36 thousand rupees was found in Ayaral's account, 6 million rupees in Dipak's account, 1.7 million 46 thousand rupees in the account of Sapna's mother Chhabi Kumari Khatri and 4.6 million 89 thousand rupees in Sapna's account. Police said that Rs 303,500 withdrawn using ATM card.

The investigation has also revealed the insurance agent Khan was an old acquaintance Aryal.

A version of this article appears in the print on July 30, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.