Police in Jajarkot have arrested two more people in relation to the killings of Dalit youths in Soti on Wednesday.

According to the police, two people including Indra Bahadur Malla of Bheri Municipality in Jajarkot district have been arrested based on the call details obtained by the police leading up to the incident. Indra Bahadur is one of the relatives of the Malla family, accused of orchestrating the killings.

Meanwhile, the police have not made public the personal details of the other arrested individual. The person was arrested on the basis of statements given by the accused who were held earlier.

Indra Bahadur is accused of tipping off the Soti locals regarding the youths’ arrival to the village in Chaurjahari Municipality on the day of the incident and threatening the family members of Nabaraj BK, one of the six victims of the incident, who had gone to Soti to elope with his girlfriend, who belonged to so-called “upper caste”.

Jajarkot Police Chief Kishor Kumar Shrestha informed that Indra Bahadur and the other arrested individuals have been sent to Rukum (West)-based District Police Office.

[Read: Human Rights Watch calls on Nepal government to ensure justice for caste-based killings]

Earlier on June 4, the police had arrested seven people in relation to the Soti incident and the Rukum (West) District court extended the remand of 18 individuals for 10 more days in police custody.

Twelve people including Dambar Bahadur Malla, the ward chairman of Chaurjahari Ward No. 8 were arrested on May 26 and six others were also arrested in relation to the crime on May 28.

On May 23, locals from Soti in Chaurjahari Municipality in Rukum (West) allegedly attacked Nabaraj BK of Jajarkot and 18 of his friends accompanying him to the village to help him elope with his girlfriend.

On May 24, the bodies of Nabaraj and his friend Tikaram Sunar, both of them Dalits, were found on the banks of the Bheri River.

The bodies of Ganesh Budha, Lokendra Sunar and Sandip BK, who went missing in the incident, were recovered on May 25, whereas that of Govinda Shahi was recovered from Bheri river in Khodakhola, Jajarkot on June 2.

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