Police have made public five persons arrested in connection with the murder of Chairman of Federation of Contractors’ Associations of Nepal (FCAN), Sharad Kumar Gauchan.

Organising a press conference in the Capital on Tuesday, police made public the hitman Rajiv Syangden, a resident of Panchakanya Rural Municipality, Nuwakot district, Shivaji Mahato, of Parsad, who had arranged the firearm, and Mukesh Kumar Pandey, of Bihar, India among others.

Similarly, Sanotsh Gurung, of Thori, Parsa, who had made arrangement for the bike used to commit the crime, and his accomplice Prakash Budhathoki were also made public at the press meet.

According to police, mastermind of the incident notorious gangster Samirman and his accomplices including Singh Basnet, Manoj Pun, Lopsang Lama, Ganga Lingden, Shyam Bahadur Gumbe, Amar Bahadur Lama, Roshan Budhathoki and Ajay Thapa are on the run. Lama and Gumbe had deserted Nepal Army.

It has been learnt that Pun had taken the responsibility of the plot. Budhathoki had played an instrumental role in making the plan a success, preliminary investigation revealed. He is a relative of Basnet.

The District Court, Kathmandu, has remanded the accused to 60 days in custody for investigation under the organised crime. They have been kept at Metropolitan Police Office, Exhibition Road.

Gauchan was shot dead in broad daylight at Shantinagar in the Capital on October 9.

Following the incident, Police Headquarters, Naxal, on October 10, had formed a special taskforce led by DIG Ganesh KC to investigate into the matter.

The team comprises of CIB SSP Sher Bahadur Basnet, Metropolitan Police Crime Division SSP Dibesh Lohani, three DSPs and one inspector.