Bhaktapur Kidnapping: Home minister defends officers involved in ‘encounter’

Bhaktapur, August 10

Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa has defended police officials involved in the killing of two men allegedly involved in the kidnapping of a boy in Bhaktapur.

Talking to mediapersons in Bharatpur, Minister Thapa, who had earlier said a probe would be commissioned to look into the case, said reportes about the ‘fake encounter’ were untrue. “Police opened fire on Nishan Khadka’s kidnappers in an encounter,” said Thapa.

Thapa also praised the police officials in the case for solving it within 24 hours.

Thapa, on Thursday, had told Parliament’s State Affairs and Good Governance Committee that an investigation would be launched into the case. But hours after he made the statement, the minister says he has already reached the conclusion that the killing was part of an ‘encounter’ and not pre-meditated murder.

According to a source, SSP Dhiraj Singh, Metropolitan Crime Investigation Bureau, met Minister Thapa on Thursday to discuss the case and convinced Thapa the two men were killed in a real encounter.

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