BHIMDUTTANAGAR, Aug 24: The police said that it would move ahead in connection to the rape and subsequent murder case of 13-year-old Nirmala Panta in consultation and coordination with the agitating side, said Superintendent of Police Kuber Kadayat, the new police chief of the District Police Office, Kanchanpur. 

The 13-year-old girl from Kholti, Bhimdutta Municipality-2 was found murdered in a sugarcane field near her friend's house at Nimbukheda, Bhimduttanagar Municipality-18, on the morning of July 27, a day after she went missing. She had gone to her friend's house to do her school home work on July 26. 

The Kanchanpur District Police Chief Kadayat, who arrived here on Thursday night to assume his office, said the police would move ahead by taking into account the opinions and suggestions from all sides regarding the murder case. He added that the government has also accorded high priority to this incident. 

"A situation might come in which this incident has to be investigated from a new angle," the Kanchanpur police chief said. He also urged the agitating side and the locals to cooperate to the police in the investigation. 

The curfew that was clamped in Kanchanpur on Thursday after the demonstrations by the victim's relatives and supporters took a violent turn has been lifted from 5 am today. Police had to fire tear gas shells to bring the situation under control. 

The locals had been protesting since last week, calling for bringing Nirmals's murderers to book. They alleged that the police had not been prompt enough in investigating into the case and was not taking it seriously. The protesters had also demanded transfer of the Chief District Officer and the chief of the district police. The Ministry of Home Affairs has assigned new Chief District Officer and the new district police chief. It has also formed a high-level investigation committee to look into the case. 

The situation in Bhimduttanagar which was tense until Thursday has now become normal since the morning. The market has opened and transport has resumed. 

The new police chief of the district said that an improved law and order situation in the district would contribute to the investigations into the case. 

Govt to bear treatment cost of those injured in Kanchanpur incident

KATHMANDU, Aug 24: Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa has said the government would bear the cost for treatment of those injured in the Kanchnapur incident took place Thursday. 

The incident happened in course of demonstrations held by people of Bhimdatta Municipality, demanding the arrest of guilty in the rape and murder of a local 13-year-old girl. Many demonstrators were injured in the incident. 

The Home Minister today visited the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) to take updates of health condition of one of the injured Arjun Bhandari. He was brought to the TUTH from Kanchapur. 

Tensions had gripped Bhimdattanagar, the district headquarters of Kanchanpur, as the locals have continued their demonstration, since the murder of Nirmala Panta a few weeks ago. 

Earlier, the police had arrested a person with mental illness on the charge of his involvement in the crime, but locals are not convinced by the police move as they said the police framed an innocent person to save the real criminal. 

In response to their calls, the Home Ministry, on Thursday, formed a five-member team under the convenorship of Home Ministry's joint secretary Hari Prasad Mainali to probe the matter. 

Tensions have gripped the Bhimdattanagar, the district headquarters of Kanchanpur as the locals have continued their demonstration, since the murder of Nirmala Panta after rape. Her body was retrieved from a sugarcane field on July 27. RSS

 
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