RAJBIRAJ, Jan 1: A married couple has been found murdered in Jandhaul VDC-9 of Rajbiraj in Saptari on Monday. Police informed that both were killed while they were asleep in their home.
The deceased have been identified as Dambar Bhattarai,45, and his wife Kausalya Bhattarai, 35.[break]
According to Rajendra Bastola, police inspector at Kanchanpur Area Police Office, the couple died after the assailants had cut their throats open. He said the bodies are swollen at different parts and there are burn marks from cigarette butts. The assailants are at large.
Police said the assailants numbered around 11.
The couple was living in an isolated locality with only three houses scattered about. Locals learnt about the deaths only in the morning. “We informed the police immediately after we came to know about the deaths in the morning,” said Usha Sah, a neighbor.
The couple is survived by two sons and a daugther -- Dipesh, 15, Dinesh, 9 and Deepi, 11.
Rajbiraj police station informed that the bodies have been sent to the Sagarmatha Zonal Hospital on Tuesday for autopsy. Police investigation into the murder is under way.
Meanwhile, Sah said forest guards of the nearby Shambhunath forest might have some connection with the couple´s death. The guards were the last people whom Sah had seen with Dambar before his death.
According to Sah, the forest guards had arrested three timber smugglers and Dambar had negotiated their release. “In the presence of Dambar, the forest guards had released the smugglers after taking Rs 7,000 and a chicken from them,” said Sah.
However, Chaturnarayan Sah in-charge of Sambhunath Forest Range Post has denied the claim. “The guards had visited Dambar´s house but they returned after buying a chicken for Rs 700. We have no connection with the murder of the couple,” Chaturnarayan Sah claimed.