The bench of the High Court Birgunj on May 28 acquitted Nepali Congress leader and former minister Mohammad Aftab Alam, of Rajpur Municipality-4. Earlier, on April 26, the Rautahat District Court had sentenced Alam and three others to life imprisonment on charges of killing.
However, the bench of Judges Khushi Prasad Tharu and Arjun Maharjan overturned the earlier verdict. The Supreme Court had earlier stated that a detailed investigation and legal action should be carried out based on the reports by INSEC, the Nepal Bar Association, and the National Human Rights Commission. On the night of April 9, 2008, a day before the first Constituent Assembly election, an explosion occurred while making bombs targeting the election at the house of Shesh Idris, uncle of Aftab Alam in Fardawa, Rajpur Municipality. The incident resulted in the death of two individuals and injuries to 23 others.
Regarding the incident, INSEC and other organizations conducted monitoring and released a report on May 6, 2008. The report stated that the injured and deceased were thrown into a brick kiln to erase all traces and to hide the incident, Alam arranged for some of the injured to receive treatment at an unknown location in India. It also mentioned that the victims’ families were threatened not to disclose details of the incident.
The bench, of the District Court Judge Matrikaprasad Acharya, convicted Aftab Alam, his brother Mahtab Alam, Shesh Seraj (also known as Shesh Saraj), and Badri Sahani of killing, stating that they killed 23 injured individuals by burning them alive in a brick kiln. According to the Muluki Ain (National Code) 1963, the accused were sentenced to life imprisonment, as informed by Registrar Uddhav Dhodari. Similarly, the accused, Mukti Shah, was acquitted. In contrast, the cases against the accused, Mohammad Mowin, Shesh Fazal, Shesh Bhadai, Sagir Alam, Gourishankar Sah, and Shesh Malakar, who are still absconding, have been adjourned. Police arrested Aftab Alam on October 13, 2019, for the charge of burning injured individuals alive in a brick kiln.
