Four people, including former minister and Congress leader Mohammad Aftab Alam, were acquitted by the Virganj bench of the Janakpur High Court on Wednesday, who were accused of the bomb blast in Rautahat on the night before the first Constituent Assembly election on 27 March 2064 and the murder of the injured by putting them alive in a brick kiln.

The Rautahat district court ruled that Alam had committed the murder and sentenced four people including him to life imprisonment. Alam was released from Nakhkhu Jail Lalitpur on Wednesday evening after the District Court's order was overturned by the High Court.

Reversing the decision of the district court after 1 year and 1 month, the Virgunj bench of Janakpur High Court acquitted on Wednesday.

that evidence was not found - From the report of the forensic science laboratory, the accusation that the deceased was burnt in a brick kiln could not be confirmed,

Exactly 1 year 1 month 1 day ago, the Rautahat district court had sentenced four people including Alam and his brother to life imprisonment . On 13 Baisakh 2081, the district court said  It was like this -

- on the eve of voting for the first Constituent Assembly election, the explosion in the house of the uncle of Mohammad Aftaw Alam, who is a candidate 

- basic work of investigation including bond that should be done immediately (after 17 days) 

only on 14 Baisak 2065 

- The police could not go to the scene of the incident on occasion and there were unnatural and suspicious activities in the background. Being approved easily by the Attorney General's office

- The defendants refuse to understand the arrest warrant

- The plaintiff's witnesses, including the whistleblower, are hostile in the court, the security situation of the whistleblowers is becoming alarming and challenging 

- The fact of the explosion is established through evidence such as papers, bank papers, bonds, police papers, reports of human rights organizations involved in the missile, and photographs of the scene of the incident.

- Trilokpratap Singh Rajput alias Pintu and OC Akhtar Mia, who were injured in the said explosion, along with these defendants Mohammad Aftab Alam, Mohammad Mehtab Alam, Sesha Saraj alias Sheikh Seraj, and Badri Sahni, were found to have been burnt in the chimney kiln of the Raja Brick Industry in the sack. The joint bench of Tharu and Arjun Maharjan gave the acquittal. Against the order of District Court Rautahat, four people including Alam filed an appeal in the temporary bench Birganj. 

The High Court initially upheld the order of the district court and upheld the order to keep him in custody for the preliminary investigation. But it was cleared on Wednesday. Rautahat court sentenced four people including Alam to life imprisonment on 13 Baisakh 2081. Congress leader Alam, his brother Mohammad Mahtab Alam, Sheikh Seraj (Saraj) and Badri Sahni were sentenced to life imprisonment. Aftab was released from Nakkhu Jail in Lalitpur on Wednesday and went home after being acquitted.

In the decision made by the High Court on Wednesday, it is mentioned that the bomb blast incident at Aftab's house could not be confirmed by objective evidence, no concrete evidence was found that the injured Pintu (Trilok Prasad Singh) and OC Akhtar were burned in the tractor by Hali Raja in the brick kiln, and even the forensic science laboratory could not confirm the accusation that the deceased was burnt in the brick kiln. 

Rautahat's former Rajpur Fardahwa-4 Congress leader. In the case of the explosion in Sheikh Idris's shed, the police have arrested Mohammad Aftab Alam, his brother Mohammad Mehtab Alam, Sheikh Seraj, Sheikh Fazlehak, Sheikh Bhadai, Sagir Alam, Badri Sahni, Gaurishankar Shah, Mukti Shah, Mohd Mobin Alam on the charges of killing Trilok Pratap Singh alias Pintu and OC Akhtar Mian of Saruatha village in Yamunai rural municipality. And on 18 October 2076, a charge sheet was filed before the court with the demand of life imprisonment against 11 people, including Sheikh Jumeen alias Sheikh Malkar, for the crime of duty killing, killing industry and explosives.

The bench of Judge Matrikaprasad Acharya of District Court Rautahat on 13 Baisakh 2081 sentenced former Minister Alam, along with his brother Mohammad Shekhsraj and Badri Sahni to life imprisonment in accordance with the old civil law. Mukti Sah, who was said to be involved in the incident, was acquitted because he did not plead guilty. It was decided to keep the cases of absconding Mohammad Mobin, Sheikh Fazle, Sheikh Bhadai, Sahil Alam, Gauri Shankar Shah and Sheikh Jumai on adjournment.

According to the indictment, the incident of the explosion was kept secret, some of the injured were sent to India for treatment, while others were silenced by threats of 'anything could happen' if they spoke. Three days after the blast, on 30 March 2064, UML leader Shailendra Sah, who contested the election with Alam, filed a complaint with the police about the incident. Based on the same application, the police conducted a preliminary investigation and submitted a report with opinion to the district attorney's office in Gaur. But at that time, the public prosecutor's office decided not to pursue the case. This decision was also endorsed by the Attorney General's Office.

After the explosion, the police prepared a bond that there was no explosion at the scene. A year later, Alam himself appeared before the district police. On the same day, the district attorney's office decided not to prosecute him. On 30 June 2065, the then Attorney General Yagyamurthy Banjade decided not to pursue the case.

Ruksana, the mother of OC Akhtar, who died in the explosion, was shot dead by an armed group in which Gowda was hiding on 8th January 2067 while she was coming to her home from Maiti in Durgabhagavati rural municipality. Ruksana filed a complaint with the police saying that her son was thrown alive into the brick kiln.

The joint bench of the then Supreme Court judges Sushila Karki and Bharat Bahadur Thapa gave a directive order on 16th June 2069 in the name of the government saying that the case should be seriously investigated and prosecuted in the writ against the decision of the Attorney General. After that, District Police Office Rautahat showed interest in Alam's case. Alam was arrested after the case was investigated under the leadership of the then Rautahat District SP Bhupendra Bahadur Khatri.

Aftab, who was born in 2019 in Rautahat's former Rajpur Fardahwa gavis-4 (currently Rajpur Municipality-4), has represented Rautahat-2 in parliament four times. Every time Aftab contests elections in this Muslim-majority region, almost a single vote falls in his favor.

His family members have been leading political parties from Rajpur region since 2015. Aftab's uncle Sheikh Idris won the Praja Parishad in the 2015 elections. In the 2048 parliamentary elections, Idris was also elected from the Congress in this constituency. After the death of his uncle, Aftab emerged politically from the region. Aftab got a chance to become an MP for the first time in the 2053 by-election from constituency number 2. He won the 2056 and 2064 elections and was defeated by his own nephew Mustaq Alam, who was a candidate from the Madhesi People's Rights Forum Democratic Party in the second Constituent Assembly election of 2070.

In 2074, the parliamentary election again went to Aftab's Polta, he was elected. Aftab, a two-time district president of the Congress, expanded his relationship with Shaktikendra in 2051 by working as a shadow minister when his uncle Sheikh Idris was the forest minister. Even after the arrest of Alam, his family's political journey did not rest. Aftab's youngest son Dr. Rajik Alam was elected as the head of Rajpur municipality in the last local elections. Aftab's eldest son Firdos Alam was defeated by UML candidate Kiran Kumar Shah in the last parliamentary elections.

Aftab, who was a frequent minister on political journeys, was always close to the center of power. In 2054, he became Assistant Minister of Labour. In 2055, he became Assistant Forest Minister in the then Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala led government. In 2056, he became the Minister of State for Local Development in the government led by Krishna Prasad Bhattarai. In 2058, Girija Prasad also became the Land Reforms Minister in the Koirala-led government. In 2066, he also became the Minister of Labor and Transport in the government led by the then UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal. 

Assistant District Attorney Koshahari Niraula and Deputy Attorney Uttam Shrestha argued on behalf of the Government of Nepal in the High Temporary Bench of Birganj. Advocate Pushparaj Paudel on behalf of plaintiff Srinarayan Singh Rajput and Pushparaj Paudel on behalf of the defendant, advocates Rameshwar Sedai, Sarojkrishna Ghimire, Aftab Alam, Sudhir Kumar Karn, Sanjeev Kumar Mallik and Rameshwar Neupane argued.

related news

4 people including former minister Aftab Alam jailed for life in Rajpur bomb case