The man rode an unnumbered motorcycle to the village early Monday morning even as the villagers were preparing to go to Tansen to picket Palpa District Police Office. The locals have been demanding that the murderers be brought to book. [break]
“The man warned us of dire consequences if we continued to press the local administration,” said Ramesh Acharya, a local. The man then went to a local tea shop where he drank tea and then liquor.
“He got a call on his cell while he was drinking and left the half-empty liquor bottle there saying he had to go back to duty,” Padam Thapa, another local, said. Locals canceled the program of picketing following the threat.
Meanwhile, the police have revealed that two of the murder accused were from Naya Gorakh Battalion in Pokhara. “It has been revealed that Kumar Bista (called Ashok) was posted at Kande Post in Lumley, Kaski under the Naya Gorakh Battalion. Tara Balami is also from the same battalion,” the police said.
The police are yet to reveal the identity two other murder accused. “There is no need to hurry. We will reveal everything through a press conference after we complete the investigation,” Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kesh Bahadur Shahi assured.
The family, on the other hand, has filed a written complaint against Balami and Bista with the police. Yam Kumari Bagale, 55, daughter Tulasa, 27, Tulasa´s eight-year-old daughter Sandhya and five-year-old son Sanjeev were killed in Thimure on February 10. Police had found Bista´s photo from his cell phone recovered from Bagale´s body.
“We had written to the army about Ashok Bista. It later turned out that his actual name was Kumar,” the police said. Police had initially arrested Balami as per the statement of Tulasa´s friend Srijana Pariyar.
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