SARLAHI: Megh Bahadur Thapa, also known as Babu Thapa, who was convicted in the murder case of former Supreme Court Justice Rana Bahadur Bam and escaped from prison during the Gen Z movement in August 2025, has been arrested in Sarlahi.
Police arrested Thapa while he was sleeping at his residence in Bagmati Municipality-1, according to the Sarlahi District Police Office. Police recovered two pistols, three magazines and 15 rounds of ammunition from his possession. Sarlahi Police Chief Superintendent of Police Rabindranath Poudel said one of the pistols bore the inscription ‘Made in USA’, while the other was unidentified.
Thapa, a former central vice-president of the Churebhawar Rastriya Party, escaped from Kathmandu’s Central Jail in Sundhara on August 9, 2025 during the Gen Z movement.
According to police, he had been moving between different locations in Nepal and India while evading arrest, reportedly disguising himself to avoid detection. Police had intensified surveillance amid suspicions that he might return to his hometown.
SP Poudel said Thapa was arrested after police received information that he had returned to his residence. Then Supreme Court Justice Bam was shot dead in the UN Park area of Lalitpur in June 2009.
Investigators linked the murder to an internal leadership dispute within the Churebhawar Rastriya Party, which was established in 2063 BS and had its political base in northern Sarlahi. The dispute had intensified after Justice Bam issued an interim order concerning the party’s legitimacy.
The police investigation identified Thapa’s involvement in the murder. A team from the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) arrested him in Chitwan in 2071 BS, two years and seven months after the killing.
Thapa had contested the first Constituent Assembly election in 2064 BS from Dhanusha Constituency No. 7 but was defeated. Following the election, the Churebhawar Party split after Keshav Mainali was elected to the Constituent Assembly through the proportional representation system. A dispute over the party’s legitimacy subsequently reached the Election Commission, which recognised the faction led by Thapa rather than Mainali’s group.
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