Convicted Mastermind of Tikapur Massacre Granted Freedom

The government has granted amnesty to Resham Chaudhary, who is currently serving a life imprisonment sentence as the primary orchestrator of the Tikapur massacre. This decision was made by President Ramchandra Paudel on the occasion of Republic Day, wherein amnesty was extended to a total of 19 prisoners, including Chaudhary.

A Cabinet meeting, convened at the Singha Durbar earlier on Sunday, unanimously resolved to recommend to the president the pardon of these 19 prisoners, with Chaudhary being among them. However, it is worth noting that the President’s Office had previously returned a related file, which was initially sent by the Ministry of Home Affairs, requesting the ministry to refer it to the cabinet for further deliberation.

Resham Chaudhary was convicted for the murder of several police personnel during the Tikapur incident in Kailali back in 2015. He is currently serving his sentence at Dillibazar Prison in Kathmandu. Notably, on May 16, the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Dipayal High Court, affirming Chaudhary’s life imprisonment sentence.

It is pertinent to mention that prior to this amnesty grant, the government had been making efforts to secure Chaudhary’s release by introducing a new bill on May 11. This bill aimed to facilitate his freedom from incarceration.