Kathmandu, Oct. 21 -- Kumar Paudel, Sarlahi district in-charge of the Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal, was "killed after he was taken into custody", the National Human Rights Commission has said.

Paudel was killed on June 20 in Lalbandi, Sarlahi district, in what police had claimed was "police action". Security personnel had opened fire in retaliation after a group of four motorcycle-borne persons fired upon a police patrol, Superintendent of Police Gopal Chandra Bhattarai had said. Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa had reiterated Bhattarai's claims before the House of Representatives and Parliamentary State Affairs Committee that Paudel was killed after police opened fire in self-defence.

However, an investigation by the ...