E-Kantipur

KATHMANDU, MAR 04 - It has been learnt that a former high-ranking police official, one of the suspects in the Jamim Shah murder case, was told to leave the Capital by senior police officers before he could be arrested.

The police in turn decided to investigate the role of former Deputy Superintendent of Police Jagadish Chand on the very day (Wednesday) he went on the run.

The police were thus unable to interrogate Chand despite their knowledge about his connection with the Indian killers as he used his political influence, a highly-placed source said.

The police had been planning to interrogate Chand about his connections with notorious Indian criminal Babloo Shrivastav, the mastermind behind the murder of Shah on Feb. 7, since the last three weeks. Police investigators reached Chand’s workplace--Norvic Hospital at Thapathali, where he works as the front office manager--to bring him in but he had already escaped by then.

Investigators have found that DSP Chand along with Sub-Inspector Prakash Chhetri and Babbu, who hatched the Shah’s murder plan in Kathmandu, had called up Shrivastav several times from the Thapathali-based Greenline Restaurant.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Senior Superintendent of Police Rana Bahadur Chand admitted that DSP Chand was in contact with the Indian don.

Prakash Chhetri, currently under custody for his role in protecting the murderers, has also testified that Chand played a key role in the murder.

DSP Chand was suspended from the force for possessing fake academic certificates and for being involved in several corruption cases.

DSP Chand has also been found to have links with another alleged Nepali criminal, Shree Krishna Poudel of Nuwakot, who had managed the safe-houses for Babbu’s gang and the weapons.

Chhetri, who has confessed his crime, has also told investigators that Babbu used to throw parties and supply girls and that they were aware about the murder plan.

Investigators have also substantiated the involvement of other senior police officers. But SSP Chand said the investigators could not arrest them only because they were in touch with the criminals. “What is more important is to find whether they were involved in the plan or not,” he said. He said that the officers were not investigated immediately as telephone operators failed to provide call details.

Shah was gunned down in the Capital’s Lazimpat area on February 7. On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Police Crime Division arrested three in connection with the murder. But their identities have not been revealed yet.

 

Posted on: 2010-03-04 11:36

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