KATHMANDU, Dec 11: Contradicting the claim made on Sunday by Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ishwar Pokhrel that police have already identified and arrested the culprits behind Nirmala rape and murder case, Prime Minister KP Oli on Monday said that the police have not yet found the perpetrator(s).

Amid growing angst among the civil society resulting in the piling up of accusations on the government for the failure to book the culprit(s) behind the case, Prime Minister Oli claimed that the government has left no stone unturned in the probe into the case.

Addressing the Human Rights Day celebration function organized by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Oli said, “Nirmala rape-and-murder case is not yet solved,” adding, “The police have not yet identified the perpetrators.”

The prime minister said that the general public is not creating any better environment for the investigation by heaping up anger at the government and police.

“It is not that police are not doing anything. They have sent one team after another to probe the case,” he said, “We have left no stone unturned.” He added that politicization of the issue has hampered the pace of probe into the case.

Oli also claimed that the government will not let anyone die of cold wave this winter. “The government will make sure that the people of tarai are well stocked with warm clothes and blankets even before the winter peaks,” he said.

The prime minister also said that human rights activists should not impede on the rightful works of the government in the name of defending human rights. Citing the example of notorious gangster Samirman Singh Basnet, Oli questioned, “If a criminal is found running a crime network from the central jail, doesn't the government have the right to transfer him to Mustang jail in order to strangle the network?”

At the function, chairperson of NHRC Anup Raj Sharma said that the NHRC cannot resolve all the issues relating to human rights by itself. “The government, non-governmental organizations and civil society should all work together to ensure respect, conservation, and promotion of human rights,” he said.

 
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