Police still clueless about Justice Bam killers

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: Three months after the May 31 assassination of Supreme Court Justice Rana Bahadur Bam at Lalitpur, a high-level probe panel of the Nepal Police is still clueless about the culprits involved in the broad daylight murder.

The investigation of a special desk comprising senior police investigators and plainclothes police personnel has made no progress in the case till date.

It is one of the toughest investigations, a source said, adding that the closure may take hours or even years.

Except for releasing the sketch of one of the two shooters involved in the murder, police have not disseminated any official information about the ongoing investigation.

To make the matter worse, they are still in the dark over the motive behind the murder.

According to a source, investigators have fanned out in most of the districts and even the suspected hideouts in the northern neighbour looking for a lead to capture the two suspects.

An investigator, however, blamed the government’s apathy towards the woes facing the panel for little or no progress in the case.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner’s Office has spent over Rs 1 million from its internal budget for the investigation till date.

“The government is least bothered about the problems the investigators are facing. All that it is doing is issuing directives to book the culprits,” he said.

Intelligence is the most powerful weapon for investigation of any criminal

activities.

It is brought and sold in the information market, however, Nepal Police is still

relying on traditional means of investigation in the age of information technology, sources said.

Police have held and released more than one hundred suspects after their involvement could not be established.

Officials said they are still hopeful about the result-oriented investigation and the arrest of culprits.