Former Maoist Commander Remanded in Judicial Custody for Businessman’s Murder

The Chitwan District Court has decided to remand former Maoist commander Kali Bahadur Kham in judicial custody in connection with the murder of businessman Ram Hari Shrestha. The decision came after two days of intense hearings on Thursday and Friday.

Judge Dayaram Dhakal presided over the proceedings and ordered Kham to be held in prison until the investigation into the case reaches a conclusion. Shrestha, a well-known restaurateur in Koteshwar, was abducted from Kathmandu on April 27, 2008. His body was discovered on the bank of the Trishuli River in Chitwan district a month later on May 25. Notably, the Maoists had been residing in Shrestha’s house in Koteshwar on rent.

Kham, who had been evading authorities, was apprehended from Thamel, Kathmandu, on Tuesday. Despite his denial of involvement in the crime, Bishnu Prasad Acharya, the registrar at the district court, stated that Kham’s claim cannot be verified due to compelling witness statements, the circumstances surrounding the incident, the postmortem report, and other immediately available evidence.

It has been revealed that Kham was the commander of the third division of the Maoist army, which had established a contact office in Shrestha’s residence in Koteshwar. The late restaurateur was reportedly taken to the Shaktikhor camp in Chitwan after a substantial amount of cash and weapons went missing from the office.

Shrestha’s fate remained unknown until May 15, 2008, when Kham, the commander of the Maoist combatants at the Shaktikhor camp, announced that Shrestha had died in Jutepani, Chitwan, one of the cantonments of the then Maoist army. As the investigation proceeds, more details are expected to emerge regarding this chilling case that has gripped the nation.