Supreme Court Orders Filing of Murder Case Against Former Chief District Officer in Kumar Poudel Killing

Kathmandu. The Supreme Court has issued a mandamus order to register a case of culpable homicide against ten individuals, including the then Chief District Officer Krishna Bahadur Raut (currently Secretary at the Election Commission), in the murder case of Kumar Poudel, a leader of the then CPN (Maoist Centre led by Biplav) who was killed in Sarlahi.

Kumar Poudel of Lalbandi, Sarlahi, was shot dead by security personnel on Jestha 5, 2076 BS, under the guise of an encounter. The investigation committee formed under the coordination of the then Commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission, Govinda Poudel, had also identified the incident as a murder and directed that all involved be brought under the legal purview. At that time, Ram Bahadur Thapa Badal was the Home Minister and Sarbendra Khanal was the Inspector General of Police.

The joint bench of Supreme Court Justices Dr. Manojkumar Sharma and Shrikant Poudel issued the mandamus order in the name of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Office of the Attorney General, the District Police Office, Sarlahi, and the District Government Attorney's Office, Sarlahi.

Due to this mandamus order from the Supreme Court, an investigation followed by a culpable homicide case will need to be filed against Raut, former Superintendent of Police Gopal Bhattarai, then DIG of Provincial Police Office Janakpur Haribahadur Pal, then Police Inspectors Kiranprasad Neupane and Krishnadevprasad Sah (K.D. Sah) working at the Area Police Office Lalbandi Sarlahi, then Police Inspector Suryakumar Karki working at the Area Police Office Nawalpur, Dr. Birendrakumar Mandal working at the District Hospital Sarlahi Malangwa, Police Constables Satyanarayan Mishra and Binod Shah, and Bharatkumar Thapa, Mayor of Bagmati Municipality, as per the demands of the victims.