A forensic report has found no match between the DNA samples taken from three others with that of the victim’s vaginal swab in Kanchanpur rape and murder case. Police said DNA of suspended SP Dilliraj Bista, his son Kiran and Bhimdutta Municipality Mayor Surendra Bista’s nephew Ayush Bista did not match the DNA taken from the vaginal swab of the victim, 13-year-old Nirmala Pant. The tests were conducted at forensic lab of Nepal Police and the report has already been forwarded to District Police Office, Kanchanpur. DNA samples were taken from SP Bista and two others after DNA of another person presented as the prime suspect by police failed to match the vaginal swab. Police had presented Dilip Singh Bista as the prime suspect but was later released due to the mismatch. Nirmala Panta of Bhimdutta Municipality in Kanchanpur district was found in a sugarcane field in Bhimdutta Municipality-18 on July 27, a day after she was reported missing. Autopsy report showed that the teenager had been raped and strangulated to death. Government had formed a high powered nine-member probe committee under DIG Dhiru Basnyat to investigate the role of police officers involved in the probe of rape and murder. //////////////////////////////////////////// ‘Sample not stored properly’ KATHMANDU: A member of one of the committees investigating the Nirmala Panta rape and murder case told THT on Sunday that the victim’s vaginal swab was not properly collected and stored, the sample was sent to the laboratory only after two to four days and its quantity was not clearly stated. The panel member, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said the sample was sent to the forensic laboratory of Nepal Police, which was against the principle of natural justice, as the police’s role in the investigation was questionable. “I am wondering why the police, instead of working to collect other evidences, only focused on DNA test,” the panel member said. .\/////////////////////////////////// Where is Nirmala rape and murder investigation headed? Over two months have passed since the rape and killing of Nirmala Panta in Kanchanpur district, but Nepal Police remains clueless about culprits even after questioning several suspects and conducting DNA test of four persons, including suspended Superintendent of Police Dilliraj Bista. Criminal investigation being conducted by police yielded no results for the second time after DNA samples of suspended SP, his son Kiran Bista and Aayush Bista (nephew of mayor of Bhimdatta Municipality) did not match the vaginal swab of the 13-year-old girl. Earlier, DNA samples of Dilip Raj Bista had also tested negative. “DNA test is not the only tool of criminal investigation and will not put an end to the ongoing probe. Police have been conducting probe from several angles and the DNA test result does not mean a clean chit to the three accused. We have developed many leads in connection to the crime,” Senior Superintendent of Police Shailesh Thapa Kshetri, Nepal Police spokesperson, told THT. However, police are clueless about who perpetrated the crime that has stirred mass outpouring of grief and anger across the nation. The lack of evidence-based investigation offers little hope of justice to the victim and her grieving family. Criminal investigation has become more complex and demanding due to the failure to timely identify and bring to book culprits. The report submitted by Joint Secretary Hari Prasad Mainali-led probe panel to the Ministry of Home Affairs had stated that the then Kanchanpur police chief SP Bista and his team destroyed evidences of the rape and murder. The girl’s salwar was washed and other clothes burnt instead of protecting them for forensic tests. Six cops were suspended for botching up the investigation. ///////////////////////////////////////// Nirmala Panta case has been unnecessarily Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa at a presser organised by Press Centre Nepal and Press Chautari Nepal, Chitwan chapter, in Chitwan today. Photo: RSS KATHMANDU: Minister of Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa today said that Nirmala Panta case has been unnecessarily politicised. Speaking at a presser organised by Press Centre Nepal and Press Chautari Nepal, Chitwan chapter, Home Minister stated that the rape and murder case has been politicised in various ways. “The home administration, however, has been conducting deeper investigation into the case,” said Thapa. Stating that a high-level probe team had been dispatched to the incident site the very next day of Panta’s killing, the minister insisted that the Home Ministry is working seriously to book the culprits in this case. He also vowed to speed up the process for action against the guilty based on the report submitted by the investigation team. Thapa further added that police have been successful in arresting 95 per cent of the perpetrators in such incidents. At the event, the Home Minister also claimed that the home administration had discovered 4,000 kilogrammes gold smuggling in course of investigating the 33 kilogrammes gold smuggling incident. The gold smugglers’ racket has been dismantled. The Home Minister stated that investigations would not stop until the ‘big and small fish’ involved in gold smuggling were brought to book.