Bishal Chaudhary and Pradip Rawal remain prime suspects in the Nirmala Pant murder case even though the DNA evidence has ruled out the former’s involvement in the crime.

The DNA sample from Chaudhary did not match the sample collected from the vaginal swab of Nirmala while the test results of Rawal have yet to come out, according to Nepal Police spokesperson SSP Uttam Raj Subedi.

Despite the DNA results of one of Chaudhary clearing him of the crime, police strongly believe that he and Rawal are guilty in the rape and murder of 13-year-old Pant at Bhimdattanagar Municipality in Kanchanpur district on July 26.

SSP Subedi said police investigation was not solely focused on DNA verification to capture the perpetrators.

“There are many other factors of investigation. There is a chance of involvement of more than one person in the crime due to which the DNA sample of one of the suspects might not match with the only one foreign DNA trace recovered from the victim,” SSP Subedi told the Post.

Police are confident about Rawal’s DNA matching with the sample taken from Nirmala. The results,according to SSP Subedi, would be out within a couple of days.

The Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police had arrested Chaudhary and Rawal nearly two weeks ago. They both have reportedly admitted to the crime and that police are gathering evidence against them.

Friends and relatives of Chaudhary and Rawal have accused police of employing coercion tactics, as in the case of Dilip Singh Bista, to frame them.

Kanchanpur police had paraded innocent Bista as the rapist and murderer of Nirmala. It was revealed later that Bista had been tortured in custody and made to confess to the crime he had not committed.

Claiming that Chaudhary and Rawal are innocent, their friends and relatives have been staging protest outside the Kanchanpur District Administration Office. Since police have been caught out for trying to frame an innocent man and destroying evidence from the site where Nirmala’s body was found, a large number of people in Kanchanpur think that Chaudhary and Rawal are innocent.

With the DNA evidence ruling out Chaudhary’s involvement in Nirmala’s murder case for now, police are preparing to release him from custody.  

“The Kathmandu District Administration Office has started the process to release him. It should not take long,” said SSP Subedi.   

On Wednesday, the Kanchanpur District Administration Office had contacted Chaudhary’s father Bir Bahadur and asked him to go receive his son in Kathmandu.

SSP Subedi said Chaudhary will be under surveillance even after he has been freed.

 “Just because his DNA results came negative doesn’t prove his innocence. There are still many steps of investigation left,” he added.

Absconding rape convict held

SURKHET: Police have arrested an absconding rape convict from Surkeht district. Basudev Saud, 54, from Abalching village of Chinggad Rural Municipality-6 was arrested on Wednesday. Deputy Superintendent of Police Pradip Bahadur Chhetri said Saud was on the run after being convicted with rape by the District Court. (RSS)