Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, during his state visit to India earlier this month, met a person accused of involvement in the Tikapur carnage, Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Loktantrik Chief Whip Yogendra Chaudhary has confirmed.

Speaking during the special hour of Legislature-Parliament on Friday, Chaudhary, however, said the meeting between the PM and the fugitive, Resham Chaudhary, held at Hotel Taj in the Indian capital was not pre-planned. Lawmaker Chaudhary was a member of the PM’s delegation.

“No one was allowed into the programme at Hotel Taj. After learning that the lawmakers who supported Tharu agitation were also present, he [PM] came to meet us at dinner later,” he said. “It’s common for a Nepali to

greet the prime minister. The matter is being hyped for no reason.”

Earlier, former PM and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli had criticised Dahal’s meeting with the Kailali massacre accused. The ruling and opposition parties are also sharply divided over withdrawing cases against those involved in violent activities during the Madhes agitation last year.

At least eight people, most of them security personnel, were lynched by a mob in Tikapur last year during

protests over constitutional provisions.