Police interrogated five journalists from Rukum to find out whether any journalist attacked her due to personal enmity. Dhanbir Dahal, Dinesh Khadka, Adarsha KC, Devendra Khadka and Surendra Khatri were summoned Monday and police have said more journalists will be questioned. Police have released all YCL cadres after interrogation and have yet to identify the culprits.
Rukum Police chief DSP Rabindra Bahadur Dhanuk said there have been no interference from any side in the investigation and all political parties are cooperating. “We can nab the culprits tomorrow or it may take even two years. We cannot set a timeframe as the investigation is going on,” Dhanuk explained.
Meanwhile, Rukum YCL has issued a statement Monday slamming the extensive arrests of its cadres in relation to the case. “It is all right if someone is arrested in a personal capacity. But the arrests can´t be used to defame the organization,” read a statement issued in the name of president Karna Bahadur Nakal.
Bista was mercilessly thrashed by unidentified individuals before being thrown for dead in a forest in Rukum on Monday. She is recuperating in Kathmandu Model Hospital in the capital.
Bista had been receiving phone threats in connection with her recent write-up on local Jantidhara weekly titled "Why do the Maoists need Tirtha´s sindoor?"
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