CCPR/C/123/D/2658/2015 and beaten, and that it was painful for him to walk because of his injuries. Mr. Bolakhe was held incommunicado both in Dhulikhel barracks and in Gorakhnath Battalion Army camp. Search operation and subsequent killing 2.11 On 13 February 2004, Mr. Bolakhe, along with R.P. and a Maoist suspect, were taken on a search mission led by B.T. They were accompanied by 45 soldiers and 3 police officers. During the mission, Mr. Bolakhe was ordered to carry weaponry and baggage for the Army officers. The Army went through a number of villages, and beat and arrested villagers for providing food to the Maoists. While advancing, a bomb explosion was heard. Some soldiers rushed back and found a bomb. They brought it back and gave it to one of the detainees to explode it. 2.12 By the time they had reached the village of Salleri, Mr. Bolakhe was separated from the other two detainees by about 150 metres. In his testimony, R.P. noted that he had overheard soldiers saying that B.T. had abused alcohol, and that they were scared of what he was going to do next. After a while, B.T. walked over to where Mr. Bolakhe was kept, and a few minutes later some shots were heard. R.P. testified that the shots had come from the same direction and had sounded like they had come from the same guns. B.T. and the soldiers, who had been with Mr. Bolakhe, came back without him. 2.13 The next morning, on 17 February 2004, soldiers went to the house of a villager, T.T., in Salleri and asked for digging instruments. Terrified by the shooting she had heard the previous night, she gave them a mattock and a shovel without asking any questions. The soldiers brought the instruments back an hour later. That morning, the soldiers and the two remaining detainees left the area. On the way back, some soldiers told R.P. that Mr. Bolakhe was a Maoist and got killed during the crossfire with Maoists who had come to rescue him. 2.14 Sometime later, a sister of T.T. showed her a location in the jungle with a terrible stench and flies hovering around. They suspected that a corpse had been buried there. Two years later, this was confirmed when human remains were exhumed from the same location. Those remains were confirmed to be those of Mr. Bolakhe. Attempts to seek justice — writ petition for habeas corpus 2.15 Unaware of those events, the author and her family continued visiting Dhulikhel barracks. On 30 March 2004, the author submitted an application requesting her husband’s release, which was met with reprimands. 2.16 On 11 October 2004, the Government of Nepal made public the whereabouts of 126 involuntarily disappeared persons through a report known as the Malego Committee’s report.5 The report contained Mr. Bolakhe’s name, stating that he had been released on 20 April 2003, without any reference to his second arrest on 27 December 2003. Mr. Bolakhe’s brother tried to establish his whereabouts in various locations, including Sundarijal barracks, 6 Central prison, Nakkhu prison, Dillibazar prison, the District Administration Office in Dhulikhel and the Dhulikhel barracks, but to no avail. 2.17 On 11 April 2005, following repeated refusals by the Army to provide information about the fate or whereabouts of Mr. Bolakhe, the family filed a habeas corpus writ petition with the Supreme Court. On 22 June 2005, the Court quashed the writ petition after the Ministry of Home Affairs presented the Malego Committee’s report indicating Mr. Bolakhe’s release. Petition before the National Human Rights Commission, exhumation of the body and opinion of the Commission 2.18 On 16 July 2005, the family lodged a complaint before the National Human Rights Commission, which initially sought information from the Ministries of Defence and Home 5 6 4 The Committee was convened under the Joint-Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The author refers to this location as Sundarijal prison.