Basnet also plotted an attack on Republica"s Biratnagar correspondent Khila Nath Dhakal the very next day because of his story on the court attack incident.[break]
The district chief of CPN (UML)"sYouth Force is be to handed a clean chit even as the administration mulls charge-sheeting for attempted murder 11 aides of his who were involved in attacking Giri, as a result of persistent pressure. It is certain that if Basnet is not charge-sheeted for the court incident, he will be in an even better position to face the charge of attacking the journalist, on account of which he has been abaconding.
Officials of the District Police Office and District Administration Office are learnt to have concluded that they should not to implicate Giri, saying he was not directly involved and nobody has made any statement against him. The same consideration will be reflected in relation to the attack on Dhakal.
Basnet"s group had injured Giri on Wednesday in a blatant attack despite the police security escorting the latter in the court premises.
DSP Sahakul Thapa said that there is no proof that Basnet is the mastermind behind the attack. ´He was not at the crime scene and nobody has alluded to him,´ he said. ´Provided there is any basis establishing his involvement, we will not let him go free.´
There are different aspects to the case that indicate Basnet"s involvement. But police have not bothered to take these into account. Following the attack on Giri, Basnet had called up media and implied that his aides carried out the attack.
´People attacked Giri to vent their anger at a criminal. But police used force on my aides who were there to exert peaceful pressure not to acquit Giri. If such suppression continues, we will keep on protesting,´ Basnet had told media persons.
Giri"s group had approached INSEC to look into the case from a human rights angle. ´I told them outright that it was they who violated the human rights of an inmate,´ said Somraj Thapa, INSEC"s eastern region chief.
Meanwhile, police have reported to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOFA) that Basnet"s involvement has not been established in either incident. ´We have received a report that no proof has been found against Basnet,´ a source close to MOHA Secretary Lilamani Paudel told Republica.
The National Human Right Commission (NHRC) has expressed concern about political protection for the perpetrators. ´We have also raised concern why police did not register the complaint lodged by Giri"s wife,´ said NHRC eastern office chief Koshraj Neupane.
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