KATHMANDU, Dec 12: Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has instructed the Nepal Army to hand over Major Niranjan Basnet, one of the prime accused in the Maina Sunar case, to the Nepal Police, a source close to the PM said.
Nepal´s instruction came after consultations with Home Minister Bhim Rawal and Defence Minister Bidhya Bhandari and in the wake of Major Basnet´s arrest by Nepal Army Military Police from Tribhuvan International Airport on Saturday afternoon.
Basnet arrived on a Jet Airways flight from New Delhi at 2.45 p.m. He was taken into custody by military police around 3.30 p.m., a police officer on duty at TIA told Republica. Basnet had returned after being expelled from a UN peacekeeping mission in Chad.
"The PM has instructed the Nepal Army and the Nepal Police to ensure Basnet´s handover to civilian police," the source said. The major in all likelihood will be handed over to police in Kavre on Sunday.
Military police waiting inside the TIA terminal building arrested Basnet. NA spokesman Ramindra Chhetri, however, claimed that he was not arrested but has been taken to army headquarters and placed under security.
Basnet is one of four Nepal Army officers who are prime accused in the disappearance, torture and murder of Maina Sunar, 15, in February 2004.
Following a Kavre District Court order there has been mounting pressure on the government to arrest Basnet. The order was issued on January 31, 2008. Subsequently, in September, the court ordered his suspension.
The Nepal Army´s decision came after intense pressure forced Basnet out of the UN mission. Amnesty International, among others, had written to the government to arrest Basnet once he arrived back in Nepal.
Meanwhile, a highly placed army officer had earlier said that Basnet would be arrested because there had been a lot of pressure on the army though he was “acquitted” by military court (in 2005). “But the government has not formally written to us about Major Basnet,” he had said then.
Republica reported last month that Major Basnet was serving in Chad, much to the embarrassment of the United Nations and its human rights commission, and its peacekeeping department in particular.
Maina was abducted from her home in Kavre district in February 2003 by soldiers from Paanchkhal barracks where the Nepal Army´s UN peacekeepers are trained. After a lot of national and international pressure, the then Royal Nepal Army was forced to admit the crime within its barracks and disclosed the names of the accused.
Army headquarters named Lt Col Bobby Khatri, Captain Amit Pun, Sunil Adhkari and Basnet (then a captain) as being involved in Maina´s torture and murder. The army had claimed that Pun and Adhikari were “detained for six months” (which could not be independently verified) and their promotion frozen; Khatri was ´demoted´ and Basnet ´acquitted´ by a military court.
While Khatri and Basnet continued to serve in the army following the crime (Khatri retired recently as a colonel), Pun and Adhikari quit the service and have left the country.
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I too agree with Nepali, they were following the orders and even Maoists should be tried in international court if you´re serious about justice. In Maina´s case, the prime accused (as per the army court) has since left the job and the country as they have powerful back up. When the government didn´t find anyone, a lone scapegoat in the name of Maj. Basnet has been dragged into the forefront. If he is tried (not to forget he was acquitted as he was not directly involved in inter
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Tarak
This is diffinately a nice step. The person who is high comanding post does such a unacceptable acitivity than what can we expect from lower people. This is diffinately good step from the government. I hope government will be more stick like this kind of activity.
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Bip
In a system of rule individuals are treated equally. This phenomena or say principle is guaranteed by each and every constitution of a country. Therefore in the eyes of law prime minister and a general public are equal and should not be discriminated in the form of religion, cast, gender and whatsoever. Hope the proved remaining cases are also come into action, because we are in the system of rule.
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dilip tandukar
I agree with Nepali and ritesh. Now, it is the turn of Prachanda to answer these questions. If UN turns its eyes off on Prachanda, then UN is an idiot organization which can not speak against wrongdoers, and it only looks for easy prays" government employees. It must push for Punishments that Prachanda and Company had committed. Prachanda had no right to offer prize (promotion) to the killer of Ram Hari Shrestha, and the others pointed out by the fellow commentator named Nepali.
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GyaRel
Yes, Dharati, i totally agree with u. All those army, police and civil administrator, all those who obeyed the orders of the then govt should be brought back from the grave and punished. But those who killed innocent people, blew up a passenger bus killing everyone, set fire to a passenger bus killing an innocent child, and are still killing innocent people and journalist, attacking them just because those people write news against them, should be made prime mininster of this ganatantra country.
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