An investigation of police into a murder case of Kapan, Kathmandu district unraveled that 35-year-old Nira Pandey Acharya was murdered with a motive of robbery.
Nira, who ran a kitchen supply store at Sarswatinagar of Kapan, was stabbed to death by alleged murderer Binod BK, a local resident of Mechi Municipality-10 in Jhapa district and currently residing at Lokanthali of Bhaktapur Municipality-1, Bhaktapur district.
Police on Sunday- the 11th day of the murder, made public the culprit and revealed the mysteries surrounding the murder.
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police said that further investigation into the case could bring out more motives behind the murder to light.
The police arrested BK from Jhapa yesterday and made public on Sunday. CIB's Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dinesh Acharya shared that alleged BK confessed in his statement that he murdered Nira, stabbing with a knife in various parts of her body when she tried to resist him during the robbery.
According to the police, BK used to work in a casino and later as a bouncer. He got involved in robbery after he got into debt and rendered cash-strapped.
The alleged murderer, as told by police, was hiding in Bhaktapur for almost a week after the crime and then left for Jhapa. After murdering Nira, he robbed gold chain and money.
He left that robbed gold chain as collateral at Pathivara Gold Silver Shop at Tarkeshwor in Kathmandu and took Rs 55,000.
The police confiscated clothes, shoe and bag used by the alleged murderer during the incident. The incident was initially probed by District Police Office, and Kathmandu Valley Police Investigation Office.
After failing to reach the conclusion during the investigation, the CIB stepped in and formed a high-level investigation committee led by AIG Kiran Bajracharya.
Chiefs of Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office and District Police Range, Kathmandu were also in the committee that meticulously launched a probe into the case and reached the conclusion.
On the day of murder, BK entered Nira's shop in the pretext of buying goods. While trying to talk to Nira, other people came in and he left the shop saying that he would return after withdrawing money from the ATM machine, said CIB's Superintendent of Police (SP) Sanjay Singh Thapa.
Second time, he went to her shop while she was alone there. Nira, who was originally from Baglung, had been running the kitchen supply shop for nearly a decade. On that fateful day, BK came in the guise of a customer and stabbed her in various parts of her body when she tried to resist him.
Severely injured by the stabbing, Nira was rushed to Teaching Hospital, Maharjgunj, where she was declared dead by the doctors.
The couple had been residing in a rented place nearby her shop. Her husband had an electronics shop in the ground floor of the house where the couple stayed. Their rented room and electronic shop was in few minutes of walking distance from her shop.
There is a counter behind her shop where she would usually go and stay when there were no customers. She was attacked at the same situation.
Since the counter is behind the shop, nobody could take notice of the murder. In absence of CCTV cameras, investigation became a trying affair for the police.
Later, police studied the CCTV footages obtained from surrounding. The incident was first noticed by a woman who had been to Nira's shop to pay back the money she owed to Nira while buying utensil.
After not finding Nira in the shop, the woman called her husband through mobile phone and inquired Nira's whereabouts. Her husband asked that woman to go and check her in the counter behind.
Inside the counter was Nira lying in the pool of blood. Aghast at the harrowing scene, the woman then reported the incident to the police.
Police, during the investigation, concluded that there was no domestic reason behind the incident. It was also learned that few minutes before her murder, Nira had posted a video in social networking site marketing an electric bat used for eliminating mosquitoes.
Earlier, the irate locals and shop-keepers at Saraswatinagar staged protests in the incident site and demanded investigation and bring to book the culprit.
Source: National News Agency Nepal