Kathmandu, January 16:

Police are yet to ascertain whether the Maoists who attacked the Thankot Security Police Check Post on Saturday used a bus to reach the spot.

Eleven policemen were killed and one inspector of the National Investigation Department injured in the attack.

“Investigations have failed to establish that the Maoists used a vehicle to reach Thankot,” Ganesh KC, deputy superintendent of police at the Kathmandu District Police Office, said today.

KC said they came to the conclusion after interrogating all those arrested, including staff of a bus suspected of ferrying the Maoists. “We have released all those arrested in connection with the incident,” he said. According to him, a bus driver, conductor and helper of a bus plying on the Birjung-Kathmandu route, have been released. Eyewitnesses are also not confident enough to say the rebels used a bus, he added.

However, police said the Maoists used a vehicle to reach Dadhikot in Bhaktapur. “The Maoists were in national dress when they came and opened fire at Dadhikot. After they shot dead one policemen and injured eight, including a civilian, they returned in the vehicle,” another police official probing the incident said.