KATHMANDU: Former Minister of Gandaki Province and Provincial Assembly Member Rajiv Gurung alias Deepak Manange, was brought Kathmandu District Court for the execution of his prison sentence.
Manange, who was arrested in Sanbharyang, Kathmandu, was initially taken into custody by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CIB). He is now being transferred to jail to serve his sentence.
The arrest follows the Supreme Court’s upholding of the five-year prison sentence originally handed down by the Patan High Court.
The Supreme Court found Manange guilty of murder. He is now being presented before the Kathmandu District Court to carry out the Supreme Court’s decision.
According to Deepak Thapa, Chief of the Central Bureau of Investigation and Additional Inspector General of Police, Manange will be sent to jail to serve his sentence after being produced in the Kathmandu District Court.
He was convicted for his role in plotting the murder of gangster Milan Gurung aka Chakre Milan.
The Supreme Court had on November 5 upheld the decision of the Patan Appellate Court regarding Manange’s case.
The Patan Court had previously sentenced him to five years in prison.
This decision followed a ruling from the Kathmandu District Court on January 21, 2007, which had initially sentenced Manange to two years in prison.
The government appealed the district court’s decision.
Following the government’s appeal, the Patan Appellate Court, on August 12, 2012 overturned the district court’s ruling and increased Manange’s sentence to five years, adding an additional three years of imprisonment.
Despite the court’s decision, Manange had remained absconding for a long time.
The government initially showed little interest in his arrest.
However, he was arrested in Kathmandu and brought to court the following day. The court ordered that he be detained at Dillibazar Jail.
Although Manange did not appeal the Court of Appeal’s decision for six years, he filed an appeal with the Supreme Court only after his arrest.
The Supreme Court initially dismissed the appeal, stating that the time limit for filing had expired.
However, after Manange filed a petition against this decision, the court allowed him to submit the appeal and granted his release on a bond of NPR 27,375.
Manange, who was twice elected to the provincial assembly, also served multiple terms as a minister in the Gandaki provincial government.
He was elected to the Provincial Assembly from Manang, where he ran unopposed.
After his election, Manange joined the Unified Socialist Party led by Madhav Nepal, but in recent years, he had been attempting to return to his status as an independent member of parliament.
Despite voting against his party’s decision in the provincial assembly, no disciplinary action was taken against him.
Now, following the Supreme Court’s ruling to continue his trial, Manange must return to Dillibazar Jail after the court upheld its previous judgment.
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http://Former Gandaki Province Minister Deepak Manange has been arrested in Kathmandu.
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