JANAKPUR, July 3: Dhanusha District Court on Tuesday slapped a life term on former minister of state for physical planning and transport Sanjaya Sah ‘Takla’ as the mastermind in the murder of media entrepreneur Arun Singhaniya.
Sah is already serving life for his involvement in the notorious Janakpur bombing that killed five persons.
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Singhaniya, the publisher of Janakpur Today, was killed in broad daylight on March 2011 at Shiva Chowk , Janakpur while celebrating the Holi festival.
Takla, who was elected a member of the second Constituent Assembly, was arrested in May 2013.
The former state minister, however, denied any role in the murder. A bench of Judge Radha Krishna Uprety on Tuesday slapped the life term on Sah. The bench also slapped a 10-year jail term on Manak Lama and Binod Lama for the murder. Ram Binod Yadav, another accused in the killing of Singhaniya, has also been convicted. The court has slapped three years’ jail on him. The court, however, acquitted Ansi Rain and Rajkaran Yadav in the case.
In May 2012, five persons staging demonstrations for a separate Mithila state were killed at Ramananda Chowk at the behest of Sah, who was elected a member of the second Constituent Assembly. He was arrested in May 2013 in connection with the blast. In April, Dhanusha District Court had slapped a life term on Sah for his role in the bomb blast.
Sah was elected lawmaker from the then Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum Nepal from Janakpur in the 2008 CA election. But he joined the Rajendra Mahato-led Sadbhawana Party in the 2013 CA elections. During his first stint in the CA, Sah was appointed minister of state for physical planning and transport in the Madhav Kumar Nepal government. The bomb blast incident occurred when Sah was state minister.
Born in a humble family, Sah had worked briefly as a construction entrepreneur in the district before joining politics. He emerged victorious in both the CA elections, defeating heavyweights from the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML.
