Two years after the incident, Nepal police have managed to nab Ranjit Jha (Rajan Mukti) and Mukesh Chaudhury (Prakash Vidyarthi), considered key links to the Mithila bombing that killed 5 people and injured 32 on the morning of April 30, 2012.

-NAVIN JHA: CIJ

With the key links to the Janakpur bombing in police net, the mastermind behind the incident and his motive may finally be exposed.

Click the following link for audio.

http://www.annapurnapost.com/en/news/political/4929

                                      

While Jha and Chaudhary have confessed their direct involvement in planning and executing the bombing, the mastermind behind the incident remains at large. Ranjit Jha, infamously known as  Rajan Mukti, was nabbed on November 16 last year, and his interrogation led to the arrest of Mukesh Chaudhury in February this year. Earlier, Dhanusha police had arrested Jayprakash Chaudhury, Suresh Kumar Karna, Ripendra Jha and Mukesh Kumar Karna, who were involved in planting the bomb at Janakpur’s busy Ramananda Chowk. The culprits are now behind the bars and serving their terms. Among them, Ripendra Jha used to work at the ticket booking counter of Saaras Travels whose office is located at Ramananda Chowk, the site of the blast.
 
The bomb blast had targeted the sit-in protest called by Mithila Raajya Sangharsha Samiti, pressing for a federal Mithila state. The powerful bomb exploded at 10.30 in the morning killing five people including Ranju Jha, a popular local theatre artist, Jhagru Das, Bimal Sharan, Suresh Upadhyay and Dipendra Das. At least 32 were severely injured in the explosion.

After a long interrogation, Rajan Mukti confessed to the crime and gave a written statement to the police

about his involvement. "We met at Mukesh Chaudhury's house in Dayaalpur, Lucknow. It was a meeting between my Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (Rajan Mukti Samuha), Chaudhury's Terai Janatantrik Party, Vidhyarthi Liberation Front, Umesh Tiwari aka Nagraj's Terai Cobra and Praful Yadav aka Rajan Pratap's Madhesh Mukti Tiger. We decided to make a united front, but without merging our groups and taking collective responsibility for the actions mutually undertaken. As a show of strength and also to spread the terror, we decided to carry out a bomb blast in Dhanusha. As per the plan, we sent our cadres to plant the explosives at the site of the meeting of Mithila Raajya Sangharsha Samiti. After the bomb was detonated, I called and sent text to local journalists using Indian mobile number + 91 8521427555, taking responsibility for the incident."

The bombing led to widespread condemnation and prompted police into action. Hounded by the police and cornered on all sides, three months after the incident Mukesh Chaudhury called few local journalists and circulated copies of his phone conversation with yet to be identified mastermind of the bombing, which probably took place days and possibly hours before the incident. The conversation that took place in Maithali repeatedly refers to ‘that person’, and how to target him in the attack.

Full transcript of the conversation:

Mukesh Chaudhury: I have instructed him to reach the spot with the 'goods'. I hope he doesn't get caught.
Second Speaker: What were your instructions?
Mukesh: I told him to enter from the back gate and plant the thing next to 'the person'.
Second Speaker: Tell him to do it from the side and avoid the crowd. The damage should not be too huge.
Mukesh: Either we back-off now or go through the crowd. We have to make a decision. We shouldn't confuse him.
Second Speaker: Instruct him to put it next to 'the person' after he comes out from there.
Mukesh: How is that possible? I will tell him to put it next to 'the person' in the crowd itself.
Second Speaker: No, no, don’t do that. The damage will be huge.
Mukesh: What do we do then? Be clear about your instructions first. Otherwise, he may be suspicious.
Second Speaker: It’s not working out. You take information from Birendra.
Mukesh: I am in regular contact with Birendra.
Second Speaker: Ok, keep in contact with Birendra and keep the guy on a standby there. I will instruct you after the sequence falls in place.
Mukesh: If we go on like this, there is a high possibility that we will miss.
Second Speaker: Yes, that's a possibility.
Mukesh: Should we take responsibility for the incident?
Second Speaker: No, no. Don't even contemplate that. You will get us introuble.
Mukesh: We have the remote. It's just a matter of a second. Tell me, what do we do? There are more than 150 people there.
Second Speaker: Leave it today.
Mukesh: If we leave now, 'the person' will go back to his hotel directly from there.
Second Speaker: Leave it. The damage will be too huge. They will sit-in tomorrow as well.
Mukesh: So, we will do it on Sunday?
Second Speaker: They will gather again tomorrow. But we will do it when it is convenient.

This conversation reveals that the plan was initially to carry out attack on Sunday or even before. Also, that there was just a single target – ‘that person'. However, due to the ‘sequence’ gone awry, many people lost their lives. But, at the same time, the second speaker seems resolved to exploit the sit-in program to kill his target.

On the day of the blast, more than 150 people had gathered for a peaceful sit-in at Ramananda Chowk. The blast occurred while they were gathering signatures in support of the Mithila state. In the next conversation, that probably took place few hours before the blast, Mukesh Chaudhury and the same unidentified speaker are talking again about the planned attack. Here, Mukesh tells the second speaker to open his TV to watch the incident.

Second Speaker: How long do I have to sit in front of the TV?
Mukesh: Sit continuously today. Sit all day today.

The second conversation shows impatience of the second speaker, anxious to see the blast being executed. The tragic blast could not be avoided. But those who carried it out are now in police custody and it is clear that the motive behind the killing was personal. Somebody wanted someone present at the protest program dead. It is now up to the police to reveal who the second caller was? Who was his target? Was the target killed, or did he survive the attack? And, why did he want the target dead? All eyes are now on police to bring out the facts and bring to closure, one of the bloodiest chapter in Madhes politics.  

Mithila Raajya Sangharsha Samiti has already submitted a petition to the Prime Minister through the District Administration Office (Dhanusha) to trace this 'second speaker', who clearly seems to be politically connected.

(Read full report in Nepali and listen to the audio conversation at www.cijnepal.org)