Probe committee finds army men guilty, recommends strong action

The committee formed to investigate the torturing of police officials by Nepal Army (NA) soldiers at the Bhairabnath Battalion on the night of July 28 has found the army men guilty and recommended strong action against a dozen army men.

Among the guilty army men recommended for action are Captain Robin Bikram Rana and Major Anil Khadka, who was the acting chief of the battalion when the incident happened.

Major Khadka is the son of former regional administrator Jagadish Khadka.

The government-formed committee, which submitted its report to Defense Secretary Bishnudutta Upreti on Monday, also cautioned the government to remain "watchful over the army giving and obeying false orders."

About 40 armed soldiers in uniform had forcefully taken control of three policemen- Inspector Ram Bahadur KC, Asst Sub Inspector Dharmendra Ray and Constable Dil Bahadur Tamang- from the Durbarmarg Ward Police Office, taken them to the battalion and thrashed them brutally at midnight on 28th July only an hour after a scuffle involving policemen on duty and drunken Captain Rana in Thamel.

The scuffle had resulted after the police had tried to remove Rana's wrongly parked private vehicle. Rana's friend Bikendra Bahadur Bist was injured in the incident.

The report will be made public by the defense ministry after a meeting with the investigation committee headed by joint secretary of the ministry, Kashinath Sharma.

After the incident, the NA had also formed a 'court of inquiry board' as per the Military Act under the coordination of Brig Gen Yadav Bahadur Rayamajhi to investigate the incident. Although preliminary investigation by the army had found Captain Rana guilty of misusing arms and uniform, nothing has been made public.