Police probe Indian cop’s hand in Jamim murder

SUNDAR KHANAL

KATHMANDU, Mar 9: Nepal Police are investigating the possible involvement of an Indian policeman in two high-profile murders in Nepal including the Jamim killing.

A Nepal Police official told myrepublica.com that they have asked Uttar Pradesh Police whether one Waqar Saiyyad is a constable in their ranks.

Police reached the conclusion that Saiyyad was involved in the murder of media entrepreneur Jamim Shah in Kathmandu on February 7 and of Indian national Shaukat Beg, who was said to have a criminal background in India and had settled in Kapilvastu with a Nepali wife. Beg was killed in Butwal on January 1.

Chief of District Police Office Rupandehi SP Chhabi Lal Joshi said that at a recent border security meeting he had asked his Indian counterparts in the two bordering districts of Maharajgunj and Siddhartha Nagar–SPs Ram Swaroop and Upendra Agrawal- to check Saiyyad´s possible profile in their databases. He also said that he is in contact with the magistrates of both districts in this connection. According to him, the Indian counterparts pledged to cooperate but have not responded further.

Rupandehi police had accused Saiyyad, 36, of murdering Beg, going by his Indian driving license found at the crime scene. The Nepal Police high-profile investigation team later presented him as one of the accused in the murder of Jamim. Police claimed his role as a ´sharp-shooter´ in both incidents and also presented this as one of the major factors for pushing the underworld link in the Jamim murder.

According to DSP Dan Bahadur Karki at Area Police Office Butwal, Uttar Pradesh Police has been approached for information about Saiyyad but to no avail so far. “Initially, there was not a good response. But we have sent a different team to garner the information,” he added.

Nepal Police had ascertained Saiyyad´s role as a sharp-shooter in both cases on the basis of his modus operandi (MO). Jamim was shot dead in Lazimpat, Kathmandu by a motorbike-borne gunman and Beg was targeted in the same way in Mainanagar, Butwal.

Nepal Police officials believe that with tentative identification of the culprits, the apprehension of any suspected Indian could bolster investigations into both cases. “This part is crucial for finding the motive behind the incidents,” a senior official said.

Nepal Police investigations have so far fingered six Indians as accused in Jamim´s murder including Saiyyad and Deepak Shahi alias Babbu, the alleged mastermind. But Saiyyad is the only one identified as accused in Beg´s murder.