Kathmandu. Former Kanchandpur District Police Chief SSP Dilli Raj Bista, who had been dismissed from service after having been accused of destroying the evidence in the rape and murder case of Nirmala Panta, has been reinstated. Likewise, the service and position of Inspector Jagadish Bhatta, has also been restored.

The meeting of the Cabinet on Wednesday decided to revoke the earlier decision and reinstate SSP Bista and Inspector Bhatta. In the 2018 rape and murder case of Nirmala Panta in Kanchanpur, separate probe committees formed by the Nepal Police Headquarters and the Ministry of Home Affairs both had found that the police had destroyed the evidence.

As per the conclusion of the committee reports, SSP Bista and Inspector Jagadish Bhatta had been removed from service while Central Bureau of Investigation (CIB) DSP Angur GC, DSP Gyan Bahadur Sethi, Inspector Ekendra Bahadur Khadka, Sub-Inspectors Harsingh Dhami and Ram Singh Dhami and Constable Chandani Saud had been suspended.

They were reinstated after the Kanchanpur District Court declared them not guilty. Other suspended police personnel have resumed their services some time back.

It’s a sad thing though that the police has not been able to find the culprit and solve the case even after two years of the incident.