Police in Kaski have arrested five men in connection with the death of 22-year-old Rajendra Paudel, a tourist porter from Dhampus in Machhapuchchhre Rural Municipality-7, who was found dead in a field near his home after an alleged night-time assault, according to police statements reported on Thursday, October 29.
Source: Daily Inform IQ
According to the preliminary police investigation, the chain of events began on Kartik 8 (October 25), when Paudel argued with his brother-in-law, Bishnu Prasad Gautam, over a missing mobile phone and allegedly smashed the phone. Police said Paudel later joined a group of local men who were drinking, and a dispute escalated after he kicked a beehive belonging to Lil Bahadur Pun.
Police said Paudel later returned carrying a sickle and allegedly attacked members of the group, injuring Milan Bik in the neck and Ashish Gurung in the leg, before the men separated and went home. Kaski District Police Chief Superintendent of Police Nabin Karki said the injured men then contacted other local youths, saying they had been overpowered during the sickle attack.
Kaski police spokesperson Birendra Kumar Paswan said Ashish Gurung called Bikram Pun and Lil Bahadur Pun at around 11:59 pm. Police allege that the five men then went to Paudel's home while he was sleeping and beat him with bamboo sticks, fists and kicks, dragged him about 50 metres to a field east of the house and left him there. Paudel reportedly asked his mother for a blanket during the night and slept in the field; he did not get up the next morning, and local residents who found him dead informed the police. These are police allegations at the investigation stage; no court has decided the case.
Source: 2 Days Bulletin
A team from the Dhampus Police Post first reached the scene, and special investigation teams from the Nepal Police Provincial Office in Pokhara, the Kaski District Police Office and the Baghar Police Office were also deployed, police said.
Five men in custody for five days
The arrested men are Bikram Pun (30), Ashish Gurung (23), Mahadev Bik (30), Milan Bik (30) and Lil Bahadur Pun (38), all from Dhampus Ward 7. Police said a court has granted them five days to keep the suspects in custody for further investigation, and the exact cause of Paudel's death will be established through the investigation.
Former ward chair Som Bahadur Gurung said alcohol-related arguments and fights had occurred in the area before, but this incident had left residents of Dhampus shocked and distressed.