“The Office of the Attorney General and the Police Headquarters had issued a directive to the police requiring that those arrested be presented to the government attorneys within 24 hours of arrest and the attorneys be given full access to investigation files thereafter,” Sangraula said, adding, “But in this particular case, that didn´t happen.” [break]
“A controversial person (like Chari) must be thoroughly investigated and not set free with the ease that was demonstrated in this case. Before the police present the charge-sheet in court (District Administration Office in this case), they must exhaustively discuss the case with government attorneys, who may seek the help of the Office of the Attorney General, if need be,” he further said.
The AG on Friday told Kathmandu´s police chief Kedar Rijal to continue investigations into Chari despite his release.
“If I myself find that any complaint lodged against him is overlooked, I will raise the case at a meeting of the coordination committee,” he said, relating his warning to Superintendent of Police (SP) Rijal. The coordination committee comprises of AG, inspector general of police, home secretary and law secretary.
No complaint against Chari: police
Meanwhile, SP Rijal said there was no reason to detain Chari any longer as there is no complaint lodged against him anywhere in the country.
“Police arrested Chari just because he was in possession of a khukuri knife and a sword that he claimed to have been carrying for self protection. Nonetheless, given his past, it was a case of public offense and police followed the standard course by presenting him at the District Administration Office that takes decisions in such cases,” Rijal said.
According to Rijal, given Chari´s criminal track record, police exhaustively looked into his possible involvement in fresh criminal activities, but failed to get any lead. “No compliant had been filed and neither was there any lead for pursuing an investigation,” he claimed.
Interestingly, a statement issued by the police following Chari´s arrest at Nagdhunga on April 24 describes him as a “notorious don with political access who is involved in extorting businessmen, industrialists, contractors, realtors, hotel and restaurant operators and manpower agents by using hoodlums; and who uses force to secure tender awards in his favor.”
The political patronage was evident during Chari´s detention, a police officer said, preferring to be unnamed. “While he was in detention, there was a barrage of phone calls from some CPN-UML leaders making enquiries about the Chari case,” the officer said.
Chari is believed to be under the political patronage of CPN-UML leader K P Sharma Oli.
Chari now Tiger
A senior police official said the hurried release of Chari (or bird) has now transformed him into a tiger.
“Police must have remanded and interrogated him for the full 24 days that is legally allowed. The political patronage he enjoys from the CPN-UML and the fact that police expedited his release has emboldened him and turned him into a tiger,” the official said, adding, “There are indications that he is currently involved in extorting businessmen in Kathmandu. A tough interrogation could possibly have established that.”
Chari, who is from Dhading, served a nine-month jail term between 2009 and 2010 after he surrendered to the police in September 2009 and was found guilty for a failed bid on the life of one Niranjan Silwal at Nayabazaar in 2008. It is alleged that police had him arrested minutes after the murder attempt, but let him go after a big sum of money changed hands.
Chari assumed a low profile for a few months following his release in May 2010, but is believed to have flexed his muscles thereafter.
Chari came to prominence in the crime world after amassing hundreds of millions worth property through illegal yarsagumba trade.
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