4 people including former minister Aftab Alam sentenced to life imprisonment in Rajpur bomb case

This case went to the judicial process only after Alam was arrested on October 26, 2076, 12 years after the incident, on the charge of throwing the injured victims alive in the chimney of a brick kiln, the night before the first Constituent Assembly election, i.e. on 27 Chait 2064. Alam, who was remanded to prison on October 29, 2076, is now in Nakhkhu Jail in Lalitpur, while his brother Mehtab Gaur is in jail.

Congress leader in Savik Rajpur Fardahwa-4 district. In the case of explosion in Sheikh Idris's shed, the police arrested Mohammad Aftab Alam, his brother Mohammad Mahtab Alam, Sheikh Seraj, Sheikh Fazlehak, Sheikh Bhadai, Sagir Alam, Badri Sahni, Gaurishankar Sah on the charge of killing Trilok Pratap Singh alias Pintu and OC Akhtar Mian of Saruatha village in Yamunai rural municipality. , Mukti Shah, Mohd Mobin Alam and Sheikh Malkar named as Sheikh Jumeen, and 11 other people were charged with life imprisonment for the crime of duty killing, killing industry and explosives.

On Thursday, Judge Matrik Prasad Acharya's bench sentenced ex-minister Alam, his brother Sheikhsraj and Badri Sahni to life imprisonment in accordance with the old civil law, according to Uddhav Dhodari, the judge of the court. He said that Mukti Sah, who is said to be involved in the incident, was acquitted because the claim was not made. According to Shrestedar Dhodari, the case of Mohammad Mobin, Sheikh Fazle, Sheikh Bhadai, Sahil Alam, Gaurishankar Sah and Sheikh Jumai, who are absconding in the blast incident, has been decided to be adjourned.

District Attorney Badri Bahadur Karki, Advocate Pushparaj Paudel and Dinanath Rizal argued on behalf of the plaintiff in this case, which has been heard continuously since Monday. Bar Association President Gopalkrishna Ghimire and others argued on behalf of the defendant.

The incident of the bomb blast was tried to be kept secret by people with knowledge. Some of the injured in the incident were sent to India for treatment, while others were silenced by threats of anything that would happen if they spoke. Three days after the blast incident, UML leader Shailendra Sah, who contested the election with Alam, filed a complaint with the police about the incident on 30th March, 2064. On the basis of the same application, the police conducted a preliminary investigation and submitted a report with an opinion to the district attorney's office in Gaur. However, at that time, the public prosecutor's office decided not to pursue the case. This decision was also endorsed by the Attorney General's Office.

Immediately after the explosion, the police reached the scene and prepared a bond that there was no explosion. A year later, Alam himself appeared before the district police. On the same day, the district attorney's office decided not to prosecute him. Then on June 30, 2065, the then Attorney General Yagya Murthy Banjade decided not to pursue the case.

Ruksana, the mother of OC Akhtar, who died in the explosion, was shot dead by an armed group in which Gowda was hiding while she was coming to her house from Maiti in Durgabhagavati Rural Municipality on 8th January 2067. Ruksana also reported to the police saying that her son was thrown alive into the chimney furnace.

On 16th May 2069, the Supreme Court gave a directive order to the government saying that the case should be seriously investigated and prosecuted in the writ against the decision of the Attorney General. After that, District Police Rautahat showed interest in Alam's case. Alam was arrested only after the then SP (now SSP) Bhupendra Bahadur Khatri investigated the case.

Aftab, who was born in 2019 in Rautahat's former Rajpur Fardahwa gavis-4 (currently Rajpur Municipality-4), has represented Rautahat 2 in parliament 4 times. Every time Aftab contests elections in this Muslim-majority region, almost a single vote falls in his favor.

His family members have been leading political parties from Rajpur region since 2015. Aftab's uncle Sheikh Idris won the election from the People's Council in the 2015 elections. In the 2048 parliamentary elections, Idris was also elected from the same constituency from the Congress Party. After his uncle's death, Aftab emerged from the region politically. Aftab got a chance to become an MP for the first time in the 2053 by-election from constituency number 2. He won the elections of 2056 and 2064 and was defeated by his own nephew Mushtaq Alam who was a candidate from the Madhesi People's Rights Forum Democratic Party in the second Constituent Assembly election of 2070.

In 2074, the parliamentary election again went to Aftab's Polta. He was elected. Aftab, a two-time Congress district president, expanded his relationship with Shakti Kendra in 2051 when his uncle Sheikh Idris was the forest minister by doing all the work as a shadow minister.

Even after Alam's arrest, his family's political journey does not seem to have taken a break. Aftab's youngest son Dr. Rajik Alam was elected as the head of Rajpur Municipality in the last local elections. Aftab's eldest son Firdos Alam was defeated by UML candidate Kiran Kumar Shah in the last parliamentary elections.

Aftab, a frequent minister on political journeys, was always close to the center of power. In 2054, he became Assistant Minister of Labour. In 2055, he became the Assistant Forest Minister in the government led by the then Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala. In 2056, he became the Minister of State for Local Development in the government led by Krishna Prasad Bhattarai. In 2058, Girija Prasad also became the Land Reforms Minister in the Koirala-led government. In 2066, he became the Minister of Labor and Transport in the government led by the then UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal.