Victims' Details:
Name: Bishwanath Parajuli, Tom Nath Poudel and Dhan Bahadur Tamang
Date of Incident: September 27, 2004
Age: 29, 29, and 30, respectively
Address: Hasandaha VDC-7 and VDC-8, Morang District

Perpetrators' Details:
1. Colonel Pradeep Pratap Bom Malla, Divisional Commander of Eastern Divisional Army Headquarters, Itahari, Sunsari;
2. DIG Krishna Basnet, Regional Police Chief of Eastern Region Police Training Center, Biratnagar;
3. DIG Sanat Kumar Basnet, Chief of the APF, Eastern Regional Office, Pakali, Sunsari;
4. Dolakh Bahadur Gurung, CDO of Morang District Administration Office, also coordinator of the District Security Committee;
5. Some 56 security forces (Unified Command) deployed under the command of Eastern Divisional Army Headquarters, whose names and ranks are not known.

Summary: Three persons namely Bishwonath Parajuli (also called Nagendra Parajuli), Tom Nath Poudel and Dhan Bahadur Tamang of Hasandaha VDC, Morang were shot dead by the security personnel on 28 September 2004. According to the eyewitnesses, other victims and the villagers, about 16 people were arrested from the village; many of them were the juveniles. After their arrest, they were detained in a room of nearby Ram Janaki Primary School where they were interrogated and tortured.

On the morning three of them (abovementioned) were killed, four of them were taken by the army and other were released on the condition that they would report to the Eastern Pritana Headquarter, Itahari (Purbi Pritana Itahari) the next day. Those taken away by the army were disappeared for some while but recently they were found in Morang Prison. The army authority handed them over to the police after keeping them in the barrack for few days; and they were then detained in prison under preventive detention. Parents were allowed to see them in prison but were not allowed to talk to them.

Details of the Incident and Development: Tom Nath Poudel ran a bicycle and radio repair shop from his home. On September 27, 2004, he accompanied his neighbor, Bishwanath Parajuli, to a traditional healer in a neighboring village. On their way back, they met their neighbors Mithu Paswan, Raju Paswan, Tukindra Acharya, and Ramesh Neupane, and all of them walked back together. Eyewitnesses said that around 7:30 p.m. the group came across around 50 armed security personnel on patrol near the Ram Janaki Primary School, at Bhategauda of Hasandaha VDC-8 in Morang District. Earlier that evening, Maoists had forced some local villagers to attend their meeting at Pathari Bazaar of Pathari VDC-1. The armed patrol questioned Tom Nath and his friends, and asked if they were returning from the Maoist program. When Tom Nath denied attending the program, the security personnel arrested him and his friends on the grounds of being Maoists.

Some other villagers were arrested at the same time. All of them were detained overnight in the compound of the school. Bishwanath was beaten up in the compound. Others who were also detained reported that around 4:45 a.m. they heard the sound of gunshots. Bishwanath’s elder brother Khyam Raj Parajuli, visited the scene of the incident the next morning and saw that his brother had been shot in the chest and chin. With help from local villagers the brother quickly buried the corpse on the bank of a stream nearby.

The father of Tom Nath, Ganesh Prasad Poudel, also visited the scene of the incident the next morning. He saw that his son had gunshot wounds to his chest and left hand. Dhan Bahadur’s relatives found his body later that morning. He had been shot twice. The security personnel forced villagers who had gathered outside of the compound to sign documents. The villagers were not allowed to read the papers. Four others, who had been detained at the school, were taken to the Eastern Divisional Army Headquarters the next day. Family members visited the DPO and the DAO repeatedly after the incident demanding a thorough investigation of the case and prosecution of the offenders.

The three families lodged an application to register a FIR with the DAO on November 1, 2004, but the authorities did not act on it. They also informed the NHRC and the Ministry of Home Affairs. The NHRC investigated the case and found that the victims’ right to life had been violated. On June 16, 2005, the NHRC recommended that the government take action against those responsible and provide NRs150,000 as compensation to the victims’ families. The police and public prosecutor did not act on the recommendation to investigate and prosecute. The families did not receive any compensation.

Official Action: The families, accompanied by Advocacy Forum lawyers, and representatives of other NGOs, NHRC, and OHCHR-Nepal visited the Morang DPO to register three FIRs on June 5, 2007. The police superintendent, Gopal Prasad Bhandari, refused to register the complaint on the grounds that these killings occurred in crossfire and that no further legal action could be taken. On July 6, 2007, the DPO returned the complaint to Advocacy Forum. On July 12, 2007, Advocacy Forum and the victims’ families visited the CDO, but the official also refused to order the registration of the FIR on the grounds that the civil administration was not entitled to look into the case.

Advocacy Forum assisted the family of Dhan Bahadur Tamang to approach to the Biratnagar Appellate Court with a writ seeking an order for the DPO and CDO to register the FIRs on August 5, 2007. On October 10, 2007, the court upheld the writ petition and ordered the DPO and CDO to register the FIR. On September 1, 2008, Dhan Bahadur’s family, accompanied by Advocacy Forum, visited the DPO, Morang to register the FIR as per the Appellate Court Order. However, the police superintendent refused to file the FIR despite the court order. As of September 1, 2008, none of the FIRs have been registered.

Update (September 2009): On October 15, 2008, all the victims’ families attempted to file FIRs referring to the Appellate Court decision of October 2007, but only the FIR relating to the killing of Dhan Bahadur Tamang was accepted and filed the same day. There is no evidence of police initiating any investigations. On June 18, 2009, Dhan Bahadur Tamang's family filed a petition of mandamus at the Biratnagar Appellate Court seeking an order for the police to promptly start an investigation into the FIR. On June 19, the Appellate Court issued “show cause” orders asking for reasons why mandamus should not be issued. A hearing scheduled for August 10, 2009 was postponed as the court had not received any responses from police. The court has since received a reply from the respondents and the next hearing is scheduled for October 26, 2009.