The school principal at Miklajung Rural Municipality in Morang was murdered by the cadres of Communist Party of Nepal on December 4 because he refused to pay donation to the party and was spearheading an initiative to set up a police post in the village, rights groups have said.

The abductiona and subsequent murder of Rajendra Kumar Shrestha was premeditated, according to a report published on Thursday.

Various human rights groups, including Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC), Forum for Human Rights and Environment, Advocacy Forum and Tarai Human Rights Defenders Alliance, had visited the incident site to investigate the case.

“Shrestha could not fight back because the abductors had tied both his hands with a rope. We found that he was excessively tortured before being murdered,” said Somraj Thapa, the Province 1 coordinator of INSEC.

Six cadres of the Netra Bikram Chand-led party had abducted Shrestha from his house at Barkhe in Miklajung-1 on the morning of December 4. He was found murdered with his throat slit on the same day in a nearby forest.

According to the report, Shrestha’s refusal to pay donation to the party and his initiative to set up a police post in the village were the main reasons behind his murder.

The Chand activists had demanded Rs 150,000 and Rs 10,000 as donations from Shrestha on two occasions, Thapa said.

“On both instances, Shrestha had refused to provide the amount. The Chand activists had threatened to kill Shrestha for his non-compliance. When they returned for the second time, Shrestha had paid Rs 5,000,” said Thapa.

The Chand-led party claimed responsibility for Shrestha’s murder on the day of the incident.

The party’s Mechi-Koshi bureau in charge said in a statement that the party “took action” against Shrestha for working as a police informant and helping police in the arrest of party leaders and cadres.

The Chand-led party has been active in Ramite, a remote area in Miklajung that shares its borders with Ilam, Panchthar and Dhankuta districts, in recent times, owing to its strategic location and low presence of law enforcement agencies.

The nearest police station from the village is 30 km away in Urlabari.

Two weeks have passed since Shrestha’s murder, but police have not made any arrests so far.

The district security committee of Morang says search is on to arrest the people involved in Shrestha’s murder.

Following the incident, the committee has also set up a temporary security base in Ramite.