KATHMANDU, Feb 20: Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa has said that the culprits behind the rape and murder of Nirmala Panta will be booked soon.

Addressing a mass gathering organized by the Oli-led faction of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) in Biratnagar on Saturday, Home Minister Thapa said that they have already reached closer to the culprits behind the rape and murder that hogged national as well as international headlines.

On 27 July 2018, 13-year-old Panta was raped and murdered in a sugarcane field near her home in Kanchanpur. An autopsy report later confirmed that she had been raped and murdered. The case has still remained a mystery even as police have deployed separate investigation teams to probe the incident.

Minister Thapa said that the government has been successful in nabbing the culprit behind the rape and murder of Bhagarathi Bhatta in Baitadi. “The success of the police investigation came amid speculations that Bhatta’s case will also become another unresolved case like that of Panta.”

Addressing the gathering, Home Minister Thapa also ruled out the possibility of a few ministers belonging to the former Maoist Center joining the Dahal-Nepal-led faction of the NCP. He said that such remarks coming from the leaders belonging to the Dahal-Nepal-led faction of the NCP were the “expressions of terror and illusion”.

Thapa also accused the leaders belonging to the Dahal-Nepal faction of the NCP of using the Goebbels' style of propaganda as they are left with desperation. He asked the leaders belonging to the rival faction to participate in the midterm election to materialize their dream to become prime minister and ministers. 

 
• Home_Minister_Ram_Bahadur_Thapa
 
• Nirmala_Panta
 
• Arrest
 
• Police_Investigation