RAUTAHAT, Oct 25: Rautahat District Court on Friday extended Nepali Congress leader Mohammad Aftab Alam's police custody by eight days.
This is the third time the district court extended his remand. Alam, who is said to be the ‘mastermind’ of the bomb blast, has not been cooperating with police in the investigation citing ‘poor health’.
Alam was arrested on October 13 on the charge of his involvement in committing several murders in Rautahat district in April 2008.
Congress leader Alam presented before Rautahat District Court
Alam, who is also a Nepali Congress lawmaker, has been accused of killing dozens of persons in a massive blast in Rautahat. The blast, which occurred at the cowshed of Alam’s relative when the victims were making bombs, had allegedly left 14 dead and eight injured. Alam has been accused of taking the blast-injured and the dead to a nearby brick kiln and throwing them in the furnace to destroy any evidence.
Later, it was learnt that all those killed were making bombs to create terror in the Constituent Assembly elections to secure Alam’s win.
As per the investigation by police, Alam had killed eight of the injured witnesses in a brick kiln. A team of police led by DSP Nabin Karki arrested Alam at Idris Gate in Rajapur Municipality-1, while he was on his way to attend a tea reception organized by Nepali Congress in district headquarters, Gaur.
The Supreme Court had ordered proper investigation into the case and action as per the law on May 29, 2012.
Alam was elected lawmaker from Rautahat Constituency-2 in the first Constituent Assembly elections in 2008. Meanwhile, he lost the second Constituent Assembly elections in 2013. But in the parliamentary elections of 2017, Alam won from Rautahat Constituency-2.
As part of the police investigation, two persons were arrested for their alleged involvement in the blast. Based on the statements given by the two accused during interrogation, police arrested NC lawmaker Alam, 11 years after the blast.
