The special team, acting on the information that the suspect was hiding in Pancthar for the past three months, found Raj Kumar Tamang alias Bishwakranti hiding in a yak shed in Lungrupa. The police made Tamang public at a press conference in Biratnagar on Wednesday. [break]
Tamang, who is spokesperson and foreign department chief of the armed outfit Samyukta Jatiya Morcha, had himself phoned the media and taken responsibility for the blast that occurred at the main gate of the central office of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC).
Police recovered two kilograms of sulphur, and 15 kg of baking soda used in making explosives, three ATM cards, an identity card, a combat dress, diary and papers related to the group from the place.
Tamang made public amid a press statement.
“We had recently received information that he has been hiding in Panchthar for the past three months,” Chief of Eastern Regional Police DIG Surendra Bahadur Shah said. Police said preliminary investigations showed that he was working to expand his armed outfit in Panchthar in coordination with Kirat Janawadi Workers and some former Maoist combatants.
Tamang said he had planted the bomb to protest the hike in petroleum price. “The blast was carried out as the massive hike in petroleum price hit the public hard,” Tamang answered during the press conference.
“I regret the death of common people.” Krishna Bahadur Tamang, Bir Bahadur Lama and Lal Bahadur Tamang were killed while Raghu Nath Khadka, Basu Shrestha, Bishnu Fulara, Man Bahadur Kunwar, and Bhim Bahadur Kunwar were injured in the blast.
Police said Tamang had already set up a district committee of his outfit during his stay in Panchthar and was planning to carry out explosions in Panchthar, Ilam, Jhapa and Sunsari districts. “He was planning armed activities in coordination with former Maoist combatants and Kirat Janawadi Workers. Investigations have revealed that they had plans to carry out explosions soon,” DIG Shah added.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Bhim Dahal, who was part of the special team that nabbed Tamang, said, “We found that he stayed briefly in Sikkim in India.” Tamang´s group, that has been active for the past three years, has carried out explosions at around two dozen places across the country.
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