May 1: Police have arrested a person suspected of killing Nira Pandey Acharya in Saraswatinagar, Kapan about two weeks ago.

According to the police, thirty-five-year-old Pandey, who ran a kitchen supply store at Sarswatinagar of Kapan, was stabbed to death on April 20 by Binod BK, a local resident of Mechi Municipality-10 in Jhapa district and currently residing at Lokanthali of Bhaktapur Municipality-1.    
Eleven days after the murder, the police on Sunday made public the alleged murderer amid mounting pressure to resolve the case of broad daylight murder.

Police investigations have revealed that BK murdered Pandey with a motive of robbery.

The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police however said that further investigation is underway and they are trying to find out if there were any other motives besides robbery.

Organising a press conference at the CIB office in Maharajgunj on Sunday, the police said they arrested BK from Jhapa on Saturday.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dinesh Acharya of CIB shared that BK has already confessed to the crime. The police added that BK stabbed Pandey multiple times with a kitchen knife when she tried to resist him during the robbery.     
According to the police, BK used to work in a casino and later as a bouncer. After he got into debt and was rendered cash-strapped, he started robbery to make easy money.

BK robbed a gold chain and cash from Pandey’s shop after the murder and was hiding in Bhaktapur for a week after the incident. He then left for Jhapa where he was arrested along with the clothes, shoes and bag used by the alleged murderer during the incident.

During the investigation, police suffered an initial setback as the CCTV cameras in the vicinity were not functional. The police then studied the video footages of the surrounding areas to identify the culprit. Police investigation also ruled out domestic violence as the reason behind the murder.

Pandey was found lying unconscious in a pool of blood in her shop hours after the incident on April 20. The incident occurred in the afternoon when very few customers visit shops.

Severely injured by the stabbing, Nira was rushed to the TU Teaching Hospital, Maharjgunj, where she was declared dead by the doctors. 

Pandey, who is originally from Baglung, was living in a rented flat with her husband nearby.   Her husband had an electronics shop in the ground floor of the house where the couple stayed. Their rented room and electronic shop were just a few minutes’ walk away from her shop.