Organizing a press meet in Janakpur, District Police Office (DPO), Dhanusha accused Sah of being the architect of Singhaniya's murder.Publisher of Janakpur Today, Singhaniya had repeatedly published news report against Sah. Vexed at all the negative attention the news reports brought against him, Sah spent a million to get Singhaniya murdered, according to the police.
As per the police, Janakpur Today had published the news about Sah's involvement in the robbery at the home of then District Development Committee (DDC)'s accountant Jiwanath Chaudhary on August 30, 2008.
Police investigations show that Sah had warned Singhaniya for several times not to write about him. But Singhaniya ignored his threats.
According to Superintendent of Police (SP) Ramdutta Joshi, then State Minister for Physical Planning and Construction, Sah had asked his accomplice Rambinod Yadav and Chanardeep Yadav to get rid of Singhaniya. He had promised them a million rupees for the task.
Police further claimed that Sah's accomplice Chandradeep had enlisted help of Pawan Lama, Manak Lama and Dipendra Kusiyait and Yogendra Sahani in the murder of Singhaniya, who was shot dead at Shiva Chowk in Janakpur on March 1, 2010.
In the murder, Manak fired at Singhaniya from behind a motorbike that was driven by Dipendra, SP Joshi revealed.
Immediately after the incident, Mukesh Chaudhary, chair of Terai Jantantrik Party had claimed responsibility for Singhaniya's murder upon Sah's request. "However, Chaudhary's involvement could not be eastablished. It seems that Sanjay had wanted to use Chaudhary to mislead police investigations," SP Joshi told the media.
Chandradeep's arrest last Wednesday gave fresh momentum to police investigations that had failed to make any arrest in the case since Singhaniya's murder.
The police said Rambinod Yadav, Manak Lama, Pawan Lama and Birendra Kusiyait are on the run.
Meanwhile, organizing a press meet on Wednesday, family members of suspended lawmaker Sanjay blamed the police for implicating him in the crime in a planned manner.
"Polygraph (lie-detecting) and narcotics tests are in use for the investigation. I want these tests carried out in presence of human rights activists, journalists and civil society leaders," Sah's wife Rangila Devi told media.
The family also complained that they were not allowed to meet Sanjay at jail. The family also expressed their anger over Sah's transfer to another jail without informing them.
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