2-sanjay-shah-223x300 Sanjay Sah

Navin Jha for Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ)

After the murder of Janakpur-based media entrepreneur Arun Singhaniya in March 2010, police sent an investigation team to Patna. Since most criminals flee to India after committing crimes in the Tarai, SP Chhabi Lal Banjade, who was the Dhanusha police chief then, thought Singhaniya's killers were also hiding across the border.

But Singhaniya’s assassins had entered Kathmandu Valley in the flag-festooned car of then minister Sanjay Sah. Police did not check the car at any point along the East-West highway and the Prithvi Highway.

Six years later, it has been revealed that Sah, who is already in jail for masterminding the 2012 Janakpur bomb that killed five people, not only plotted Singhaniya's murder but also destroyed evidence against him. Police are now preparing to formally charge him for Singhaniya’s murder as well.

In 2010, Sah was State Minister for Physical Planning and Works from the Bijaya Gachhadar-led MJF (D). Janakpur Today, a local daily newspaper published by Singhaniya, had been running a series of stories linking Sah with a robbery case filed by his friend-turned-foe Jibnath Chaudhary.

Sah threatened Singhaniya, but Janakpur Today did not stop printing stories against him. So, he is reported to have decided to kill Singhaniya by using three of his trusted aides: Ram Binod Yadav and Chandra Dip Yadav.

1-Arun-shinghaniya Arun Singhaniya

Chandra Dip contacted a criminal gang led by Babu Thapa, who is now in jail on the charge of murdering Supreme Court justice Rana Bahadur Bam. The Thapa gang provided four shooters – Ekal Sahani, Manak Lama, Pawan Lama and Ansi Rain. Ram Binod paid Rs 1 million to kill Singhaniya.

A room was booked at Rama Hotel near the Janakpur Today office. Sah gave them two revolvers and two motorcycles which the police looked for after the shooting. Four years later, Sah's men burnt the motorcycles during a violent street protest in Janakpur.

In 2014, when police launched a massive crack down on armed outfits, some of the arrested people revealed Sah's involvement in Singhaniya's murder. In the last two years, police have already nabbed shooters Ekal Sahani and Ansi Rain. But Manak Lama and Pawan Lama are believed to have fled the country with forged passports. Ram Binod who gave them money is still absconding.

But Chandra Dip, who contacted the shooters, was arrested by police this week. Chandra Dip has also confirmed Sah's involvement in the Singhaniya murder case, and the suspended lawmaker of the Rajendra Mahato-led Sadbhavana Party is likely to spend more years in jail.