Did the police conduct a satisfactory investigation for Nubhiv Upreti murder case?

An 18-year-old boy was found dead in Phewa Lake on April 17. The body of Nubhiv Upreti from Khumaltar, Lalitpur was acquired by the Nepal Army Team near the Barahi temple on April 17.

After finding the body, The Gandaki State Police Office, Pokhara issued a press release stating that a body was found in Phewa Lake near the District Kaski Pokhara Municipality- 6. The deceased was identified as Nubhiv Upreti, 18, of Bara Nijgadh Municipality-9. Soon after, the police concluded that it was a case of suicide.

Thereafter, the Kaski Police reached out to Nubhiv’s mother Bhima Mainali aka Bhagwati Kumari Mainali who had also registered a complaint at Jawalakhel Police Station a day ago regarding her son being missing.

Nubhiv Upreti recently graduated from high school in 2021, from St. Xavier’s High School, Jawalakhel, Lalitpur. Although he turned 18 on 4th March 2021, he was smart, creative, did a lot of internships, organized his own music gigs because he was a good singer/musician, and recently joined an IT course on Ethical Hacking as he was very tech-savvy.

“He was loved by everyone who knew him, he loved traveling, and always dreamt big. Every single person who knows him from school, high school, and his social circle state that he was very humble and had a kind personality,” said his sister.

On the 16th of April, 2021, Friday, Nubhiv left for his college in Kumaripati in the morning. It had only been three days since he joined the college while his classes weren’t regular. He was expected to reach home by 4:30 pm like he usually did, but he did not, and his family and friends could not reach him on the phone. They filed a case about him being missing at the Jawalakhel police department that night.

At 2:26 am the same night on 17th April 2021, Saturday, he sent his mother a text on Whatsapp saying, ‘I am sorry mamu. I am in Pokhara. I cannot speak to you on the phone,' then sent his phone’s code, net banking account passwords, and his Gmail password. The texts seemed to be sent in a rush.

After the police sent a picture to Bhima for identification, Bhima traveled to Pokhara with her husband, brother-in-law, and a friend. They reached the mortuary of the Western Regional Hospital.

“The police compelled them to submit an application before getting to see his dead body. When they got to see Nubhiv's body, there were bruises all over his head, his left hand was clenched to the side like he was defending himself, there was no sign of water in his stomach instead the stomach surface had turned dark, he had bruises around his genitals and on his thigh,” informed his sister.

Due to the suspicious state of the body his mother went back to the police, enquiring about the police on duty that night who was Mr. K.P Dhakal, (who initially stated that he met Nubhiv around 4:30 am near Treasure Lounge at the night of the incident but has constantly been changing his statement ever since.) When the mother went to the lounge, both the lounge owner and the inspector, Shyam Thapa, promised to share the CCTV footage of the entire night. The family trusted the police with the investigation and returned to Kathmandu to perform his last rites.

However, the CCTV footage has not been shared with the family. The inspector, Shyam Thapa who claimed the entirety of the footage would be released has been on leave since that day and Inspector Buddhisagar Puri who initially informed the family has also not been in contact. The Treasure lounge owner denied Nubhiv’s presence in their lounge that night but his eSewa payments made to Treasure lounge prove that he was present there.

“Every street, every cafe/pub in Lakeside Pokhara, has a CCTV. If not one, the other side of the street would definitely have it. According to his Google map tracing, Nubhiv was in Lakeside all night long.

If they have investigated properly, they are likely to find footage of each step he took in CCTV cameras and know exactly what happened that night. We repeatedly requested the police since day one, to acquire all the footage of that night around the Lakeside, but they say they don’t have it now,” said his sister.

Since the family received no update from the police even after a week, the family decided to go to Pokhara amidst his 13 days rites, to submit a proper application for investigation in the Ward Police Office in Baidam. The police under the supervision of DSP Chinimaya Tamang, did not accept the application, Instead DSP Tamang claimed it to be a case of suicide.

Some news portals also state that the Treasure lounge, which did not provide the full CCTV footage of that night and said that the files were corrupted, has a history of their staffs assaulting tourists, and once almost beat a person to death.

The next day, the victim’s family went to the District Police Office in Kaski to submit the application and met SP Jeevan Kumar Shrestha who cooperated with the family and registered the case. The District Police Office, Kaski communicated with the Ward Police Office, Baidam before finally accepting the application.

The police launched an investigation into the incident and it was finally revealed that Nubhiv was beaten by three people in the middle of the road in the lakeside area three hours before the body was found. Three people involved in the beating were also arrested. All three are currently in the custody of the police.

The CCTV footage acquired shows 3 people dragging Nubhiv to a corner of the 13th Street, Lakeside, beating him brutally to the point he could not walk. In the footage, we can see that, when the police crossed them, they did not enquire about the people who were hitting him.

The 3 just walked away from there without any interrogation. The 3 assailants are now in police custody, while the police have already reported the case to the court without a satisfactory investigation according to the family. The police informed the family that one of the 3, Aasish Rai was spotted repeatedly with Nubhiv before the incident around Lakeside while the mother claims that Nubhiv had never met Rai before.

The three teenagers who beat Nubhiv at night are, Ashish Rai, 18, of Gharipatan, Bigen Gurung, 19, of Syangja Fedikhola-2, and Basudev Gurung, 19, of Gharipatan, 6, of Syangja Arjun Chaupari. Lakeside Street no.13 CCTV footage shows Nubhiv being beaten to death at the street 13 junction.

“Nubhiv’s phone is still not found. His jacket is missing too. His dead body was found floating in the lake after a few hours of him getting beaten up brutally. “Do bodies float in a matter of two hours after drowning?” asked the victim’s family member.

His autopsy report proves that he was murdered. The cause of death mentioned in the report states head injury, drowning, bruises, and 100 ml of mud found inside his body which reflects that he was dragged through a muddy area while being beaten up or was drowned forcefully.

“He was beaten few minutes after he sent his text to his mother, which explains that he felt unsafe and wanted to get tracked. He was a smart kid, good at computers, and he informed his mother beforehand that something bad was to happen to him as soon as he knew that he was not safe,” said a relative.

According to Nubhiv's mother, she had no idea about her son traveling. The day he left for Pokhara, she contacted his friends as well as his college regarding his whereabouts but they had not seen him that day and his number was unreachable. She also said that the three of them who beat him did not know Nubhiv at all.

Similarly, on December 31, 2020, my brother Ayush Hamal from Dhangadhi Sub-Municipality Ward No.4 was assaulted by the bouncers of Treasure Lounge while trying to have a conversation with them.

He sustained head injuries and was kept in observation for three days due to internal, minor blood clotting in his head. After being assaulted he reached out to the police on duty with blood all over his face and T-shirt but they refused to register his case or help him. The Baidam police tried to subvert the issue the next day as well by stating that he could have been drunk, but we succeeded in registering the case.

However, most tourists don’t have the leverage to stay in Pokhara and struggle to get their cases registered. Why are the police in Baidam reluctant to register cases? Being a tourist destination most travelers are drunk when they get into brawls and that is used against the victim, while the police are not very responsive to intoxicated people.

It also raises a question about the legal drinking age according to our constitution. Why are clubs and lounges in tourist destinations allowing people below the age of 21 to enter clubs and consume alcohol? The clubs should make it a point to check ID cards along with their usual club entry bands.

Many locals and a hotel owner in Pokhara revealed that brawls are common in Pokhara while the local goons and bouncers can get brutal with Nepali and Indian tourists. Many of the tourists have failed to register a case with the police and have given up and left Pokhara with traumatizing memories.

Why is Pokhara safe for a white person and not for a Nepali or an Indian? Does the tourism in Pokhara prefer catering to people outside our sub-continent?

Bhima Mainali is a journalist as well as a filmmaker therefore, most of the investigation has been carried out by Nubhiv’s mother and she is still working as she was not satisfied by the investigation conducted by the police.

“The police didn't cooperate with the family even after we repeatedly asked them to keep all the records of CCTV of that day from the Lakeside area, the family went themselves and checked the CCTV at King's Lounge because they had tracked Nubhiv's payments that were made there through his bank statement.

While visiting Pokhara for the second time Bhima visited King’s Lounge and also found his bag and helmet.

The family checked his bag, it had a hotel key, a notebook, a blue book, and pens, but they did not take his bag and informed the police that they found it to follow the protocol. But after retrieving the bag the police said that they found a packet of Cannabis in his bag along with the rest of the things mentioned above.

“We don't know what to make of it, and why would it matter even if there was a packet of Cannabis found in his bag. If they would want to blame the substance, Nubhiv's viscera report doesn’t show signs of drugs or alcohol at the time of his death.

According to Nubhiv's friends', their statements were also manipulated along with the witness’s statement. They are shifting their focus from the main incident to him consuming a few drinks that night and trying to victim blame when the investigation is really about his murder," said his sister.

According to the family, they did not find the Cannabis packet in his bag when they initially checked it, but when the police retrieved the bag from the lounge they found a Cannabis packet inside the bag.

Is it possible for someone to have put it in his bag to victim blame before the police’s arrival? Or did the family fail to notice the Cannabis packet? However, even if the deceased possessed it, it does not change the fact that he was brutally murdered and deserves a rigorous and fair investigation.

In 2020 the U.N. Commission on Narcotic Drugs voted to reclassify cannabis by taking it off the strict Schedule IV list that includes dangerous and highly addictive drugs such as heroin. The U.N. still deems cannabis a controlled substance. While many developed countries have eased restrictions on research into marijuana's therapeutic use.

Dineshkhabar contacted Ward Police Office, Baidam to inquire further regarding the aforementioned murder case, DSP Chinmaya Tamang informed Dineshkhabar that the case had been transferred to the District Police Office, Kaski where the case is being headed by DSP Subash Hamal and SP Jeevan Kumar Shrestha due to which she said that she was no longer authorized to disclose information regarding Nibhiv’s murder case.

According to SP Jeevan Kumar Shrestha, of the three accused Ashish Rai, 18, of Gharipatan was send to Juvenile custody on Friday, while Bigen Gurung, 19, of Syangja Fedikhola-2, and Basudev Gurung, 19, of Gharipatan, 6, of Syangja Arjun Chaupari are also in police custody at the District Police Office Kaski. He said that he cannot reveal any more information regarding the case before the court hearing.

The Police have to be more attentive in tourist areas, instead of ignoring brawls and kerfuffle they should intervene and ensure the safety of each one. Tourists visit Pokhara to explore, party, rejuvenate and escape the monotony of their regular life, they don’t deserve to be mistreated and assaulted. While, most of the places serving liquor in Pokhara have a license to do so, therefore, blaming the tourist for consuming liquor is very unfair.