RAUTAHAT, Nov 6: As the recording of a statement from suspended lawmaker Mohammad Aftab Alam was delayed on Tuesday after his lawyers demanded copies of the charge sheet filed against him, Rautahat District Court is recording the statement of the Nepali Congress leader on Wednesday also.

Although Alam appeared before the district court at around 10 am Tuesday, the statement recording could start only at around 3 pm as his lawyers remained adamant on not allowing the recording before they could get copies of the charge sheet filed by police on Monday. 

The District Attorney’s Office (DAO), Rautahat filed a case against Alam and 10 others for their alleged involvement in committing multiple murders in Rautahat in 2008. The case against the accused includes three charges – use of explosives, murder, and attempted murder.

The court was able to ask Alam only nine questions during the 45-minute recording on Tuesday. A single bench of Judge Deepak Dhakal will again conduct the hearing in the case on Wednesday.

Alam was arrested on October 13 on the charge of the murder of dozens of people in and after a massive blast in Rautahat. It is alleged that Alam’s men were making bombs on the eve of the first Constitution Assembly elections in 2008 when an accidental explosion of one of the devices left 14 people dead and eight others injured. All those killed were making the bombs to create terror during the elections and sway the vote to secure Alam’s victory. Alam has been accused of taking all the dead and injured to a nearby brick kiln and throwing them into the furnace to destroy all evidence of the fatal blast.

Twelve lawyers including senior advocates Yuvaraj Sangraula and Dinesh Tripathi will plead for the victims of the incident during the court hearing. Another 28 lawyers will argue on behalf of Alam.

Police had recorded statements of 17 persons as part of investigations into the case.They recorded the statements of former IGP Om Bikram Rana, former AIG Kiran Gautam, then SSP Purushottam Kandel, then DSP Indra Subedi and then sub-inspector Ishwar Bikram Shah. Likewise, they also recorded statements from eye-witnesses, workers from the brick kiln, and the survivors of the blast.

DAO Rautahat has sought life imprisonment for Alman and the 10 others, as per the recommendations of the district police office that investigated the 11-year old massacre.

The case has been filed against Alam’s brother Mohammad Mahtab Alam, Mohammad Mobin Alam, Sheik Bhadai, Shiekh Seraj, Sheik Fajlehak, Sagir Alam, Sheik Malakar, Gauri Shankar Sah, Badri Sahini, and Mukti Shah. All the accused except Alam are absconding.

Alam was elected from Rautahat-2 in the first Constituent Assembly elections in 2008. 

He lost in the second Constituent Assembly elections in 2013 but won the parliamentary elections of 2017 from the same Rautahat constituency.

 
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