Thapa, 55, who as a non-gazzetted staffer at the Land Revenues Office in Bara, was shot dead at his residence on February 22.[break]
"After conducting a lengthy investigation, we came to the conclusion that he was killed for refusing to illegally register land," said Superintendent of Police Manoj Neupane of Bara District Police Office.
Police have detained seven people in connection with the killing, while six people are absconding.
Among those in police detention are Noor Hasan Miya and Riyaz Miya of Raghunathpur-1. According to police, Noor Hasan wanted 13.5 bigha land at Bhawanipur registered in his name. But Thapa refused. Others in police detention are Salauddin Miya, Aftab Alam, Santosh Yadav and Prahlad Sah. Sah is the former staffer of Land Revenues Office, Bara.
According to SP Neupane, Nepali Congress district member Rajesh Rauniyar and Nepal Students Union member Rakesh Pandeya were also involved in the murder.
Rauniyar, Pandeya, Tauhar Ansari, Afroj Alam and one Sultan of All Nepal Tarai Mukti Morcha are absconding.
Thapa was shot dead while he was watching television at his residence at Barewa, Kalaiya-10.
Immediately after the murder, the Morcha´s ´district in-charge´ Sultan had said that Thapa was a corrupt person so he was killed.
"But we didn´t find that to be the case," SP Neupane said. "We uncovered the land issue after pursuing a different approach to investigation," he added.
Thapa had a strong reputation of being a righteous man.
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