The suspended SSP of Nepal Police Divesh Lohani has been released in normal date in the case of smuggling of 33 kilograms of gold and murder of Sanam Shakya on Friday.
The joint bench of justices Nagendra Laabh Karna and Saranga Subedi of the Biratnagar High Court has ordered to conduct investigation of the case by releasing Lohani on date.
Registrar at the High Court Narayan Regmi told Setopati that the court has deemed the order given by the Morang District Court to keep Lohani in judicial custody is not in keeping with the laws.
The probe committee formed under Joint Secretary at the Home Ministry Ishwor Raj Paudel had concluded that the then chief of the Metropolitan Police Crime Division Lohani had helped the main accused in the case Chuda Mani Uprety, aka Gore, escape.
Lohani had told the probe committee that he had taken permission of AIG Bam Bahadur Bhandari, who was the acting chief of the force as the then IGP Prakash Aryal was on leave, before sending a crime division team to Morang for investigation of the case.
The High Court order has pointed that the committee in its report submitted to the Home Ministry had stated that both AIG Bhandari and IGP Aryal should be investigated. “But it does not seem the two were asked,” the court order states deeming the order by the Morang District Court to send Lohani to judicial custody to not be in accordance to the file submitted to the court.
Lohani was arrested on May 2 when he had gone to Biratnagar to give statement to the District Government Attorney Office, Morang.
The Morang District Court on May 22 had ordered to conduct hearing in the case by keeping 28 accused including eight police personnel in judicial custody. Cases were filed against 63 persons including nine serving and former police personnel with claims of Rs 17.018 billion in the smuggling of 33 kilograms of gold and murder of Shakya.
The issue of 33 kilograms of gold smuggled through the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) on January 23 came to the fore after the body of Shakya of Urlabari, who died while being tortured on charge of stealing that gold, was recovered in Biratnagar on March 2.
