28 November 2008
Jagat Prasad Joshi
Unknown
J.P. Joshi alias Pandit, a journalist missing since October 8 from his home in Nepal’s far-western district of Kailali, may have been murdered.
According to information from the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) and the National Union of Journalists (Nepal), human remains found in a forest in the far-west of Nepal have been identified by Joshi’s family, on the basis of documents and other belongings found nearby. The skeletal remains have been referred for forensic examination to a hospital in Kathmandu. Joshi was the editor of the far-western editions of the Nepali language daily Janadisha.
He was a member of the FNJ and also president of the Kailali chapter of the Revolutionary Journalists’ Organisation. According to the FNJ, Joshi’s family has identified two brothers as suspects. The brothers had been named by Joshi in a recent report for alleged involvement in illicit trade in tiger skins. One brother is now in custody, while the other is reported to have absconded. The FNJ believes that certain political forces, about whom Joshi had been sharply critical in recent writings, could be involved.
