The court sentenced Giri, who owns a hotel in Birtamod, to life in prison along with confiscation of all property. [break]
The court also convicted three others of involvement in Giri´s murder. Somnath Dhakal and his wife Manju Dhakal - at whose hotel Poudel was murdered - have been slapped one and three years in jail respectively. Similarly, the court slapped a six-month jail term on Madan Rai, who was found quarreling with Poudel hours before his murder.
Poudel was killed on April 4, 2012. He was thrown off the roof of the hotel run by the Dhakal couple. Police had arrested 17 people in connection with the murder. While 13 of them were freed later, three - Giri and the Dhakal couple - were sent into judicial custody and one, Madan Rai, was released on bail.
At the time of his death, Poudel was preparing to publish a local daily newspaper from Jhapa with Giri as publisher. Giri and Poudel had reached the Dhakal couple´s hotel reportedly for consultations over their joint project.
In its investigation report, police in Jhapa had concluded that Giri pushed Poudel off the hotel roof. However, as the court did not disseminate its verdict on Monday, the real cause of Poudel´s death is yet to be ascertained.
Soon after Poudel´s murder, a probe led by Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) President Shiva Gaunle had concluded that his murder was premeditated. The government formed a separate committee to probe the death murder and it is yet to make its report public.
Originally from Sijuwa of Morang district, Poudel was working as a reporter in Jhapa for Rajdhani daily and Avenues Television. FNJ has decided to bear the educational costs of Poudel´s children.
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