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Police have arrested a man in possession of 35.5 kg hashish. The detainee has been identified as Bir Bahadur Tamang (32) of Gajuri-8, Dhading. A team deployed from the Metropolitan Police Circle, Koteshwor nabbed Tamang acting on a tip-off. The market price of the seized hashish is Rs 862, 500, DSP Yogendra Kumar Khadka said.  

Six people, who were killed in the Pokhara plane crash on January 15, are yet to be identified. Their identity would be established through the DNA test, said the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. The TU Teaching Hospital said that the identity of six of the 48 dead people brought to the hospital for the postmortem are yet to be established. Identity of 42 dead people has been ascertained through forensic reports and fingerprints, said the Hospital’s forensic expert Dr Tulasi Kandel. “There were difficulties in ascertaining the identity of six people through forensic reports and fingerprints as their bodies were excessively burnt. So, we have started the process to identify them through their DNA test,” he said. DNA tests would be carried out in the Nepal Police Laboratory. The process of collecting DNA samples of the deceased and their relatives is underway, he said, adding that it takes at least 22 days to ascertain the identity of them. On January 15, an aircraft of the Yeti Airlines flying to Pokhara from Kathmandu crashed into the Seti gorge in Pokhara, killing all 72 people onboard the plane including four crew members. Bodies of 22 people killed in the crash were taken to Pokhara for the examination.  

Stakeholders have underlined the need to upgrade the Pokhara-Sunauli Siddhartha Highway which has been in dilapidated condition for over the years. It was raised at the public hearing events held in different parts of Syangja district on the initiative of the Department of Roads, Development Cooperation Implementation Division under the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport. Various stakeholders have been raising the voice for the up-gradation of 157-km portion of Butwal-Pokhara section along the Siddhartha Highway. Representative of the Department of Roads, Yubaraj Satyal shared that suggestions were collected from different stakeholders and beneficiaries by organizing public hearings in Galyang, Waling, Bhirkot and Putalibazaar. Feedback collection was however done in other places from Butwal to Pokhara. “The Siddhartha Highway was getting narrowed and dilapidated. There is no option to upgrade the highway”, Waling Municipality mayor Krishna Khand said. It has become urgent to enhance the standards of the road section that connects the Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport and Pokhara International Airport. Likewise, Pitambar Shrestha, chairperson of a struggle committee formed for the protection of house and huts built alongside the highway, said the use of the highway would decrease if its up-gradation was not done in a timely manner. “Trend of using alternative route is on the rise so the up-gradation of the highway is a must”, he said. Though it has been 52 years since the highway has come into operation, it was disappointing to await for the up-gradation for a long time, he noted.  

A man who attempted self-immolation near the Parliament building in New Baneshwor on Tuesday succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday morning. Prem Prasad Acharya (36) of Ilam set himself on fire and attempted suicide yesterday. He was rescued immediately and rushed to the Burn Hospital in Kirtipur but breathed his last during the course of treatment, police said.