Birendra Shah

Nepal FM, Dristi Weekly, and Avenues TV

October 4, 2007, in Bara district, Nepal

Shah was kidnapped on October 4 by members of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) in central Nepal's Bara district. Maoist leaders issued a statement on November 5, saying that Shah had been murdered by members of their party on the day of the kidnapping, according to Guna Raj Luitel, news editor of Kantipur Daily.

Maoist leaders sought to distance themselves from the slaying, which they called an anarchic act orchestrated by a district committee member, Lal Bahadur Chaudhary. Shah, local correspondent for Nepal FM, Dristi Weekly, and Avenues TV, had been critical of local Maoists in his reports.

His body was recovered by police in a forested area 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Kathmandu on November 8, according to The Associated Press. A funeral held the next day attracted more than 3,000 mourners. Some of the crowd attempted to set fire to the house of one of the accused killers, the Voice of America reported.

On May 30, 2011, a judge in central Bara district sentenced two defendants, Mainejar Giri and Ram Ekwal Sahini, to life terms and confiscated their property on charges of carrying out the abduction and murder, according to local news reports. Lal Bahadur Chaudhary had not been detained. 

Medium: Print, Radio, Television

Job: Broadcast Reporter, Print Reporter

Beats Covered: Crime

Gender: Male

Local or Foreign: Local

Freelance: No

Type of Death: Murder

Suspected Source of Fire: Political Group

Impunity: Partial

Taken Captive: Yes

Tortured: No

Threatened: Yes

Related Articles:

• Mission tells Nepal: No excuse for deferring press freedom, May 31, 2012
• Two sentenced in Nepal journalist's murder, June 14, 2011
• Nepal journalist's killers sentenced to life, June 6, 2011
• Attacks on the Press 2009: Nepal, February 16, 2010
• CPJ concerned about rise in unpunished attacks in Nepal, February 17, 2009