KATHMANDU, Nov 19: Almost three months have elapsed since former Nepali ambassador to France, Keshav Jha, was found murdered at his residence in Babar Mahal but police are nowhere close to nabbing the culprits. Jha’s murder remains as one of the unsolved high profile murder cases that took place in the Valley in the last few years.
The Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD) which took over the case on the day Jha was found murdered, claimed that the investigation on the case is still ongoing and no concrete evidences have been found till date. Chief of the MPCD Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dhiraj Pratap Singh said that investigation on the case is still underway.
“There is not much progress we can talk about. All we can say is that the investigation is ongoing,” he said.
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Immediately after the incident took place, police had taken two household workers and a guard at Jha’s residence for interrogation claiming that they were the prime suspects. All of them were released after the police could not produce sufficient evidence against their involvement. According to a source at the MPCD, the security guard and the two workers are still the prime suspects of the murder.
“The workers and the guard are still our major suspects and they are under police surveillance even now,” the source said.
Police had been much criticized for not interrogating Jha’s wife immediately after the murder took place. The source claimed that her interrogation is now complete and it could not be conducted on the first 13 days of the murder because she was mourning her husband’s death and was in an emotionally unstable condition.
However, experts have claimed that since the crime is of a complicated nature, the police cannot rush to any decision. Former Additional Inspector General (AIG) of Police Devendra Subedi said that if police are working properly in a focused manner, they will yield proper results even though it may take some time.
“If they work in haste, they may end up convicting an innocent,” he said, “Rather than hoping for an immediate action we should look forward to a proper investigation which can bring justice.”
Former envoy Jha was found murdered at around 6 in the morning at his residence on August 21. He had served as the chief of protocol for many years before serving as Nepal’s ambassador to France. He retired from civil service after his tenure as the ambassador to France ended on December 31, 1997.
