A five-member investigation committee was formed on June 14 under the coordination of Administrative Officer Gita Barai of the District Administration Office to investigate the death of Shabir Baksh, 21, of Pipira, Birendranagar Municipality–10, who died in the custody of the District Police Office, Surkhet, on the morning of June 13.
The members of the committee include Ward Chairperson of Birendranagar Municipality–10, Dil Bahadur Rakhal; Khagisara Oli, member of the Human Rights Defender Network Karnali Province; Om Bahadur Shahi, member of the Federation of Nepali Journalists, Surkhet; and Fargi Bux representing the victim’s family. The family has not yet agreed to perform the postmortem of the body as of June 15. They have stated that the postmortem will be conducted after the investigation committee moves the process forward.
Bux, who was arrested on June 10 on charges of theft, was found unconscious at around 4:00 AM on June 13. He was taken to Provincial Hospital Surkhet at 4:30 AM, where doctors declared him dead at 5:30 AM.