Police have arrested Kamal Narayan Yadav aka Kameshwar, 40, of UCPN-M Mithila State Committee member and Madheshi Rashtriya Mukti Morcha central committee member in Rajbiraj in the night of February 14. Kamal had been convicted of the murder of Dev Narayan Yadav, the ward chairperson of Kachan VDC-7. Kamal was arrested when the son of the deceased, Dharma Dev Yadav, 25, had taken in into control as Kamal was travelling to Rajbiraj in an Indian motorcycle. Kamal had shot dead Dev outside Dev’s house in front of his wife Sita on August 25, 2002. Dev’s mother Parameshwari Yadav had filed an FIR against him on August 27, 2002. Among other involved in the killing, one Kamalesh Yadav of the same place is already dead while Hiralal Yadav, 65, his son Jitendra Yadav, Devnath Yadav, 66, of the same place and Ashok Yadav of Malekur VDC-5 remained absconding.

The report of the postmortem conducted at Zonal Hospital on August 26, 2002, had described his injuries as having bullet wounds in the left side of the torso and left hand, broken the first finger, right hand dismembered, skinned on 20 spots on the back and big bruises. Dev had died of bullets shot by Kamalesh, Kamal and Ashok while Hiralal had also sustained splinter injuries on the stomach and chest after Dev tried to take refuge behind him. Police arrested Hiralal on November 1, 2002, while he was undergoing treatment. District Court had convicted Hiralal of killing and sentenced him on April 21, 2004, to five years in prison but the Appellate Court overturned the district court decision and acquitted him on May 10, 2005. However, the SC overturned the Appellate Court decision and upheld district court decision on October 16, 2008. The convicts were living at their own home. Meanwhile, UCPN-M district coordinator Asarfi Sada has issued a statement in the night of February 14 demanding immediate release of his party cadre saying the arrest was against the CPA at a time when the TRC had already been formed. 

Manohar Kumar Pokharel