A CPN-UML district committee member was hacked to death in Sarlahi district on Tuesday. UML leader Ramnaresh Raya Yadav, 60, was found dead near his house in Hempur-7 of the district on Tuesday morning.

He was attacked on his face and head with sharp weapons. He had gone out for a morning walk. The body was found at around 6am.

“It looks like a premeditated murder,” said Superintendent of Police (SP) Kedar Dhakal. “The motive is yet to be known.” The incident site, a dirt road linking Hempur and Raniya villages, is about one and a half kilometres from the victim’s house. SP Dhakal said that the assailants had accosted Yadav and thrown chilli powder on his face before attacking him with sharp weapons.

According to local people, Yadav and two of his neighbours had gone for a morning walk, but the incident took place when he was returning home alone. His friends had gone to a nearby field to answer the call of nature.

An investigation team from the Central Regional Police Office in Hetauda arrived at the incident site.

A joint team of regional, zonal and district police has initiated investigation, said SP Dhakal. “He (Yadav) used to go for morning walk with friends. I don’t think he had enmity with anyone in the area,” said the victim’s brother Ramprabesh.

UML leaders and hundreds of locals later gathered at the incident site. The party has demanded swift investigation into the incident. Issuing a press statement immediately after Yadav’s murder, UML General Secretary Ishwor Pokahrel expressed serious concern over the killing.  

According to party sources, Yadav was involved in the party’s Madhes-focused campaign lunched to clear the air about the provisions of the new constitution after attending the party’s gathering held in the first week of December in Chitwan. The body was handed over to the bereaved family after postmortem.