LAHAN, May 28: Police have arrested a person on the charge of beating a Nepal Army (NA) soldier to death two weeks ago.

Mangal Sah, 38, of Bariyapatti-4, has been arrested allegedly for murdering the soldier who had visited his home during his leave. On May 11, 25-year-old NA man Anish Kumar Singh of Bariyapatti-4, was apparently hung by an electric pole and beaten by a group of people at Tenuwapatti.

Singh who sustained critical injuries was admitted to the Kathmandu-based Birendra Army Hospital. Unfortunately, he succumbed to the injuries while undergoing treatment on May 15. He was stationed at the Barahadal Batallion in Khandbari, Sankhuwasabha. Locals had beaten Singh to death, accusing him of being "a thief who had come to steal at the house of Bilachan Yadav of Tenuwapatti."

The video of Singh being brutally beaten had gone viral on social media. The relatives of the victim had rescued him at around 4 am with the help of police. Initially, they had taken him to the Lahan-based Saptarishi Hospital. Later, he was referred to the Biratnagar-based Nobel Hospital. As he could not be treated in Biratnagar, he was brought to Kathmandu on May 13.Following Anish's death, a lot of men in Tenuwapatti had gone out of their village due to the fear of being suspected as the perpetrators. Bilachan, too, had gone out of contact by padlocking his house.

Police intensified the investigation after the father of the victim, Narendra Kumar Singh filed a complaint against more than two dozen locals, accusing them of killing his son. While some say Anish was beaten at Tenuwapatti, the family members claim that he was sleeping at his home when a group of people abducted him after midnight on May 11. They say he was taken to a nearby basic school and beaten mercilessly.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Jiwan Shrestha of the District Police Office, Siraha, informed Republica that search for the remaining accused has been intensified.

 
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