Rupandehi, April 18
Police in Rupandehi district say they have arrested five persons including a central member of the CPN-Maoist Centre in connection with multiple murder cases allegedly planned and executed by notorious gangster Manoj Pun.
Pun was killed in a police encounter on February 21.
Police recently arrested five persons–namely, Uttam Acharya, Tulsi Neupane, Lekhanath Neupane, Hari Prasad Shrestha and Roshan Khadka–on the charge of working as accomplices of Pun.
Lekhanath Neupane is a central member of the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led party. Likewise, Acharya is affiliated to the CPN-UML’s youth wing.
SP Shyam Gyawali says these people used to provide information about the district’s industrialists and traders to Pun.
Pun was accused of killing construction entrepreneur Sharad Kumar Gauchan in Kathmandu in October last year. Police say he masterminded the murder of CPN-UML’s district leader Durga Tiwari in Rupandehi in December 2016.
Likewise, he had claimed the responsibility of killing entrepreneur Basanta Paudel ‘Balu’ in Rupandehi in the first week of January this year.
