Police have arrested three individuals in connection with the murder of CPN-UML’s Rupandehi district leader Basanta Poudel on Sunday. They were arrested with a gun from Rupandehi, police informed.

Poudel, 40, was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants in Dhekabar of Devdaha Municipality on December 5 last year. He had sustained bullets in his chest and head. He was a local furniture trader.

Federal Police Unit of Bhairahawa had formed a 7-member investigation team headed by DSP Dharmaraj Bhandari to look into the murder.