KATHMANDU: The police found mutilated parts of teenaged student Khyati Shrestha’s head at Mudkhu in Goldhunga VDC-6 today. The remains were found in a bush 150 feet below the road.

“We recovered the severed head along with a tuft of hair from a paper carton at 4 this morning. The carton, which had slid from the slope, was half-open. The recovery was possible following the confession of Biren Pradhan, 42, the prime accused in the case. A special squad had taken Pradhan to locate the site,” said Nawa Raj Silwal, SP, Metropolitan Police Range, Hanumandhoka.

Last night, the accused admitted to the police officials that he had mutilated Shrestha’s body into many pieces. He had allegedly strewn them in various places between Chitwan and Kathmandu. On June 21, a few parts were reportedly found in a bush at Chhayasikot of Sainbu VDC- in Lalitpur. While, her limbs were found on the Mugling-Narayangarh road on June 13. Her remains have been sent to the TU Teaching Hospital at Maharajgunj for forensic test. SP Silwal told mediapersons that Pradhan, who was the victim’s tutor, had confessed to hacking the victim to death within 24 hours of her kidnapping.

“We’re working round-the-clock to uncover the incident,” he added.

Shrestha, a higher secondary student of Jubilant College and Research Centre at Kalimati, was abducted from Putalisadak on June 5. The police said that Rs 85,000 was retrieved from the prime accused. While, Rs 4.5 lakh was recovered from the Nepal Finance Cooperative Society at Baneshwor, Rs 3.5 lakh from Merina Shakya’s residence at Eraheti of Ichangu Narayan VDC- 9. Shakya, an alleged accomplice, turned in Rs 16,010, which she was carrying in person. She, too, has been taken to custody.

The victim’s family - she was the only child of Gopal and Radha Shrestha - had paid a ransom of Rs 1 million in Kakarbhitta on June 17.

“Pradhan, a former schoolteacher, murdered Shrestha in cold blood after the ransom sum changed hands. The abduction was carried out for ransom. But, we’re yet to figure out the motive behind her murder even after the ransom was paid. The nature of the crime suggests that Pradhan is a hardened criminal,” said Silwal.

The victim’s family, who originally hails from Biratnagar, has been living in Anamnagar in the capital for the past few years.

Over the past one year, there has been a spate of abductions in the Kathmandu Valley. According to the police, there have more than 29 such cases, involving young students and members of the business community. However, a majority of these cases went unreported as the victims’ families did not lodge complaints for fear of reprisal.