In his written statement presented to the Dhanusha District Court on Tuesday, Sah pleaded not guilty, saying he was framed by

his adversaries, among them the plaintiff, Jib Nath Chaudhary, a Janakpur local, for exposing the corruption at the Dhanusha District Development Committee.

Sah has also said that he does not know the other suspects in the incident, though one of the accused, Om Prakash Yadav, used

to be his close aide in the past.  

Including Yadav, the other suspects— Mukesh Chaudhary, Jay Prakash Chaudhary, Suresh Kumar Karna, Jitendra Lal Karna and Ripendra Jha— have all confessed to Sah’s involvement in the blast.  

 “I was in Kathmandu at the time of the blast. I had personally condemned the incident,” a source at the district court quoted Sah as saying.

About the call details which police claim is between Sah and the bombers, he has questioned the validity of the voice evidence. Claiming that he owns only one phone number, Sah said he does not remember having such phone conversation ever.

Police, meanwhile, has claimed that one of the speakers in that phone conversation, who appears to be describing the bomb blast and the plan in detail, was verified as none other than Sah himself.

The hearing on Sah’s case began on Tuesday with lawyers Krishna Sapkota, Shyam Kumar Mishra and Binod Sharma representing him.  Five lawyers are representing the plaintiff, Jib Nath, who claims that the blast was targeted to kill him.

Sah was arrested on Saturday night from Chapkaiya area in Birgunj. A former state minister for Physical Planning and Works, Sah is the only directly elected lawmaker of Nepal Sadhbhawana Party in the second CA election.