On Tuesday, the District Police Office in Kailali made public seven individuals who were arrested on the charge of killing Assistant Sub Inspector Gobinda BK and Constable Ram Bahadur Saud of a temporary police post in Jugeda near Dhangadhi.

BK and Saud had gone missing on Saturday night when they had gone to patrol the Nepal-India border area.

Pratik Bista, deputy superintendent of police at the District Police Office, said a murder case was filed against the arrested individuals on Tuesday.

“All of the arrested individuals have accepted their involvement in the crime,” Bista said. “Our investigation showed that the group of smugglers had encircled BK and Saud when the duo tried to stop them from crossing over to India with a peas-laden oxen cart. The smugglers killed both of them with sharp weapons.”

According to police, seven individuals were arrested based on the evidence found on the incident site.

“Our investigators had raided the houses of the locals and found evidence of the crime in some of the homes. There are still some absconding perpetrators. We are searching for them,” said Bista. “The investigation showed that the smugglers had buried the bodies of BK and Saud in the Mohana river.”

On Tuesday, the body of Saud was found in the Mohana river. According to Police Inspector Dan Bahadur Rokaya, Saud’s body was buried in the sand underwater.

Security personnel recovered BK’s body in the Mohana river that borders Nepal and India on Sunday. “They were murdered by the smugglers and their bodies dumped into the river,” said Rokaya, adding that one of the arrested individuals showed them the spot in the river where Saud’s body was buried.

Jugeda area, which is the border area of Nepal and India, is known to be frequently used by smugglers, locals say.