KATHMANDU: The police have publicly identified the suspect involved in the horrific mass murder that transpired in Tinkune, Gairigaon, Kathmandu, on Friday night.

The accused, Sanjay Bhandari from Sindhupalchok’s Bahrbise Municipality, has been apprehended by law enforcement authorities.

The suspect was preparing to depart for Sindhupalchok on Sunday morning when the police took him into custody from Pepsi-Cola.

Upon his arrest, Bhandari, who was unable to speak, conveyed his involvement in the gruesome crime by writing, “I killed four people,” on a piece of paper. An interpreter assisted the police in recording Bhandari’s statement.

SSP Somendra Singh Rathore of the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office revealed that the arrest was made based on CCTV footage.

Following the incident, the suspect fled the scene wielding a knife and was tracked down by the police through the aid of CCTV footage. Bhandari fled to a friend’s residence in Pepsicola after committing the murders in Tinkune.

During the night, he climbed a tree and entered his friend’s compound as the gate was locked. However, after not finding his friend there, he proceeded to another residence, as disclosed by the police.

On Friday night, the victims of the gruesome attack were 55-year-old Purna Bahadur Bhujel, his wife Ambika Bhujel, mother Shubhadra Bhujel, and Naveen Rai, all of whom were killed using sharp weapons at Divya Saw Mill in Tinkune.

Earlier, the four individuals who were detained on suspicion of involvement in the murder, including Dipendra Rai, who was apprehended at the scene by the police, had gone missing. Rai claimed to have a relationship with Nabin Rai, one of the deceased and cited this as the motive for the killings.

Bhandari informed the police that upon learning about Nabin Rai’s murder, he also murdered three other individuals. A few days prior, Bhandari had been injured in a collision with a motorcycle driven by Nabin in Chabhil. On Friday night, Bhandari arrived at the furniture store where Nabin resided and, following a dispute retrieved the knife from his bag and attacked Nabin as he was leaving.