Of the five Maoist cadres arrested for involvement in Thapa´s murder, four are district-level leaders and cadres of the UCPN (Maoist) while one is now affiliated to the CPN-Maoist, a breakaway faction of the former.[break]
According to a source, the police are under intense pressure from the UCPN (Maoist) for the released of the accused. The accused were not taken to the office of the district attorney on Tuesday to record their statements.
“All the five people arrested have already conceded that they were involved in murder and have also expressed willingness to face due punishment,” police said. The source preferring anonymity said that the District Attorney´s Office is also facing pressure from Attorney General´s Office for the release of the accused.
Under pressure from rights activists and journalists, the police had recently arrested the five Maoist cadres for their involvement in Thapa´s murder. The five-day deadline provided by the court for investigation into the case is expiring on Wednesday.
“Police and the District Attorney´s Office are under pressure from the higher ups not to proceed with the case,” said the source, adding, “Officers investigating into the case have been warned of dire consequences if they continue investigation into the case.”
“Maoists have started issuing threats to journalists in the district,” said Bishnu Kumar Shahi, Dailekh district secretary of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ). “The top Maoist leaders have been piling pressure on the police to discontinue investigation,” said Shahi.
Dailekh-based journalists on Tuesday staged a protest in front of the District Police Office. The journalists also organized a two-hour sit-in protesting the Maoist party´s pressure on administration to release the murder accused. Four of the accused are yet to record their statements even five days after the arrest.
Police had arrested Laxmi Ram Gharti Magar of Dwari VDC-1, Dailekh, on Thursday, four years after Thapa´s wife Laxmi lodged a written complaint against the four district-level leaders and cadres of the UCPN (Maoist). Laxmi Ram has already recorded his statement with the police admitting his involvement in Thapa´s murder.
On Friday, Police had arrested Jaya Bahadur Shahi, of Raniban-1 , Nirak Bahadur Gharti of Baluwatar-9 , Bir Bahadur KC of Baluwatar-7 and Harilal Pun of Dwari-3 , for their involvement in Thapa´s murder.
Thapa, a journalist working for Radio Nepal, was abducted on June 26, 2004 by then Maoist rebels and was found dead on August 11.
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