Public prosecutors will charge-sheet Shah at Kathmandu District Court on Sunday on the basis of the police investigations spanning 25 days. [break]
According to officials, the investigations could not substantiate the possibility of the underground armed outfit ´Goit Group´ operating the bomb factory in the capital through the hands of a former minor Maoist combatant.
Shah had told investigation officials that one Raju Lama, an activist of the ´Goit Group´, had involved him in the operation of the bomb factory at a private house where he was a domestic.
Nobody in the house was aware of the explosives workshop on the premises or of his clandestine role until police raided some rooms including one that he looked after as a trustworthy domestic.
Officials said Shah did not help find Lama and call details on the two SIM cards he was found to have used did not offer any clue either. Shah reportedly told police that he met Lama four years ago in the capital and went with the latter to Sarlahi district to attend a ´refresher training in bomb making´ at an underground camp run by the Goit group.
The Maoists had recruited Shah at the age of 7 during the insurgency, initially using him as a spy and later training him in bomb-making. Lama was a childhood pal who worked for the Maoists as a minor combatant. Shah left the Maoists after he received a bullet injury to the leg in an incident in Dang, his home district.
“A big story would have unfolded had we been able to reach Lama,” said an official requesting anonymity.
Mystery looms
Shah, as mentioned in his statements to police, had expected the car blast to kill the driver and his passengers, causing deep panic among the general public and creating an atmosphere in which he could indulge in a spree of extortions from prominent businessmen. He allegedly planned to set off explosions at many other busy locations also.
“Our plan failed as there was no casualty,” he told the police.
Shah had called a staffer of a five-star hotel in the capital on the latter´s mobile phone two days before the explosion and demanded Rs 100 million. Officials say an extortion case could not be built up against him as the hotel owner did not formally register a statement in this connection.
A massive amount of explosives was recovered from the factory Shah operated, including some 70 kilograms of low intensity explosives, different types of improvised bombs and a rocket launcher that was supposed to be used soon with a lethal explosives charge. The rocket launcher, Shah told police, was meant to target a prominent political figure.
What Shah has told police adds up to a chilling account. Lama used to supply him with material that he would use secretly on a wide range of experiments. He tried out a variety of bombs including those fitted into radio and telephone sets. Once a time bomb exploded before its completion and partially damaged the room.
The car blast that took place at an open parking lot in front of a nursing home caused only minor injuries to five pedestrians. It was the first time after the insurgency that a bomb factory was found in the capital. “It was all the more terrible as the factory was run by pure criminals who showed their intentions through the car blast,” investigation officials said.
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