Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Former Nepali Congress (NC) lawmaker Mohammad Aftab Alam, who was convicted for a deadly bomb explosion and mass murder, has been acquitted by a higher court.
The Birgunj bench of the Janakpur High Court on Wednesday overturned the Rautahat District Court’s verdict to sentence Alam to life imprisonment. A division bench of High Court Judges Dr Khushi Prasad Tharu and Arjun Maharjan issued the verdict.
Alam, then an NC candidate for the 2007 Constituent Assembly election, had hired workers at his home to prepare bombs to intimidate voters and capture polling booths. A bomb exploded in the night, which injured Trilok Pratap Singh (alias Pintu) and Osi Akhtar Miya, among others. Alam had also brought Indian workers to prepare bombs.
Following the incident, Alam reportedly ordered his men to burn alive 23 people, including the injured, to destroy evidence. The bodies were allegedly disposed of in the chimney of his family’s brick kiln.
Despite the gravity of the allegations, Alam went on to win parliamentary elections from Rautahat-2 constituency twice and also served as Minister for Labor and Transport.
He was arrested in 2019 after a case was filed, naming him and his brother Mohammad Mahtab Alam, as well as Sheikh Saraj and eight others as defendants.
In 2022, the Rautahat District Court convicted Alam and four others, including his brother, and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
The decision has now been overturned by a higher court.
