Judge Madhav Prasad Pokhrel convicted Krishna Chara Rai and Siddhartha Lama as main culprits in the abduction and slapped 22 years imprisonment in total. [break]
Those convicted were sentenced to 16 years for involvement in abduction and 6 years for robbery.
According to the full text of the verdict distributed to journalists Tuesday by Bharat Lamsal, Chief Administrator of KDC, accomplices in the abduction Hem Bahadur Magar and Raju Lama have been sentenced to 15 and 13 years imprisonment respectively.
The court has slapped a fine of Rs 175,000 on Magar and Lama.
Megha, a 10th grader at Rato Bangala School, was abducted from her home at Hepali Heights at Budhanilkantha, 7 km south of the capital, nearly two years ago. The abductors had reportedly taken the girl to Bhaktapur and released her after Dr. Devkota parted with a ransom of Rs. 130m.
A team from the police crime investigation division had confirmed that Gokul Giri aka Rajesh Chhetri, 37, of Subbagaun-9 in Kavre district was the mastermind behind the abduction and was involved from the planning phase to the the ransom pickup.
Though police were able to identify the other three involved -- Siddhartha Lama, Krishna Chara Rai and Raju Thapa, Giri and another culprit, Raju Thapa, are still absconding.
Related story
‘Love Station’ donated Rs 100,000 to Megha
