Rawal also claimed that the three deputy superintendents of police (DSPs), whose phone call records showed their connections to the murder mastermind Deepak Shahi alias Babbu, have already retired. The claim is apparently not true, because Arjun Chand, Ganesh Chand and Surendra Bahadur Singh are all incumbent DSPs. [break]
Jagadish Chand, who also had extensive contacts with Babbu, is only the retired police official.
According to police headquarters records, Arjun, Ganesh and Surendra are posted in Dadeldhura District Police Office, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) and the Metropolitan Police Range Taskforce, respectively. Police spokesperson Bigyanraj Sharma also confirmed their current postings.
When journalists asked Rawal what investigation the government would launch in light of the DSPs´ connections to Babbu, he only said that all of them were retired officials. In its Thursday edition, Republica had revealed that the three incumbent officers and a former one had been in repeated contacts with Babbu.
Rawal, however, said the police could not immediately arrest former DSP Jagadish Chand for lack of sufficient proof. Chand is currently at large.
"Police were trying to gather further proof. But he has been absconding," said Rawal.
But he did say anything about the other DSPs. He only said that the police are conducting further investigation and anyone found guilty would be brought to book.
On February 8, the next day of the Shah´s murder, police received Babbu´s phone number from Jagdish.
Meanwhile, in a letter sent to Republica´s sister daily Nagarik, DSP Surendra Singh admitted that he had once met Babbu. He said he met Babbu through Jagadish when he reached the Norvic Hospital for a medical check-up. Jagadish was an employee at the hospital. But, Singh declined that he was involved in the murder.
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