National
Province 2 state minister surrenders to court
Province 2 State Minister Aviram Sharma, an accused in the murder of Armed Police Force officer Thaman BK, surrendered to the Mahottari District Court on Monday. He was released on general date later.Ajit Tiwari & Santosh Singh
Province 2 State Minister Aviram Sharma, an accused in the murder of Armed Police Force officer Thaman BK, surrendered to the Mahottari District Court on Monday. He was released on general date later.
The state minister for social development turned himself in to the court at around 10:30am, along with legal practitioners. The court recorded his statement for nearly three hours before hearing.
Chief Judge Brajesh Pyakurel ordered Sharma’s release on general date after the hearing. The judge ruled, citing documents presented to the court and statements of the ambulance driver, security personnel and hospital staff who witnessed the incident, that there was no basis to prove the minister’s role in the crime.
State minister Sharma, who said he had presented himself to the court as respect for the judiciary, responded that he had got justice.
Legal practitioners Gyanendra Lal Karna, Ramesh Pandey and Devendra Thakur had argued on his behalf while District Attorney Sudip Dangal argued on behalf of the plaintiff.
Sharma visited the district court 13 days after the Janakpur High Court issued a mandamus order to the Mahottari District Police Office (DPO) to arrest Sharma and two others.
Minister Sharma, Jaleshwor Mayor Ram Shankar Mishra and Provincial Assembly member from Mahottari constituency-4 (A) Kaushal Raya are among the 28 people suspected for their role in the murder of ASI BK. They were charged with lynching the injured APF officer in Jaleshwor during the Madhes agitation on September 11, 2015. The suspects allegedly dragged and killed the injured officer from an ambulance while he was being rushed to Janakpur for treatment.
Sharma and Mishra were elected for the Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal while Raya won the provincial poll on the Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum-Nepal ticket.
Thaman’s brother Prem Bahadur BK had filed a complaint at the DPO, Mahottari, against the 28 suspects. Based on the complaint, the district court on March 10, 2016 ordered the police to present the suspects before the court to record their statements.
Thaman’s widow Shobha Gahatraj had filed a writ petition at the Janakpur High Court on April 11, 2018, seeking a mandamus order claiming that the Mahottari DPO was reluctant to arrest the suspects.
The RJP-N leadership suggested that Sharma present himself to the court and face the legal process. Sharma was recently picked by the party as a ministerial candidate in the Province 2 cabinet. Chief Minister Lalbabu Raut administered the oath to Sharma and two others for state minister roles on July 11.
A month ago, the RJP-N leadership presented a seven-point memorandum to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, urging him to withdraw cases against the party’s leaders and cadres including lawmaker-elect Resham Chaudhary.