The Kailali District Court remanded Resham Chaudhary, an accused of Tikapur incident in judicial custody on Monday. 

Chaudhary, who was elected to the federal parliament from Kailali-1 on a Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJP-N) ticket, surrendered to the court on Monday morning. Following the hearings from plaintiff and defendant, the single bench of Judge Parshuram Bhattarai gave its verdict to remand Chaudhary in judicial custody. After the ruling, Chaudhary was taken to Kailali District Prison. The next hearing is slated for Wednesday.

Chaudhary is one of the main accused of the Tikapur incident in which eight security personnel, including then Seti Zonal Police Chief SSP Laxman Neupane, and a two-year-old child were killed during the Tharuhat agitation demanding a separate province. Tension had escalated in the area then due to sporadic clashes between supporters of Tharuhat and that of the undivided Farwest.

He has been charged with murder, attempted murder and robbery. The case has remained pending in the court for the past one year.

Chaudhary had been at large even after securing a comfortable victory in the elections. However, he unexpectedly appeared at the court on Monday and recorded his statement. During the hearing, Advocates Ganga Ram Padhya, Gajendra KC and Milan Rai defended Chaudhary, while government attorneys Prakash Bahadur Bhandari, Bhandev Joshi and Nabin Bhatta and Advocate Rajendra Sau advocated on behalf of the plaintiff. A charge-sheet was filed against 56 people for their alleged involvement in the Tikapur incident that took place in August, 2015. Twenty-five of the accused have been detained at Kailali District Prison for judicial investigation.

Giving his brief comment after the court’s ruling, Chaudhary said that respecting the court he appeared at the district court to record his statement.

Chaudhary had filed his nomination as an RJP-N candidate for the federal parliament through the power of attorney. He garnered 34,341 votes to beat his closest competitor Madan Kumari Shah of the CPN-UML by 20,935 votes. But the Election Commission refused to give the victory certificate to the representative of absconding Chaudhary.

He had also tried to register a writ petition at the Supreme Court through his wife, seeking issuance of his victory certificate. But the court refused to register the writ.