After five days of isolation and torture Krishna Sen died, the blows, boots, and lathis of the men in uniform raining down upon him. He was kept captive in the highest building in Mahendra Police Club, next to its Judo Hall. His hands were bound behind his back, and he was repeatedly asked to say "This country belongs to the king."

Sen had been caught in Naya Baneswor on 20 May 2002 and been in captivity in the Police Club since. Journalist Sangeeta Khadka, who saw Sen at 2 AM on 21 May, said, "After some hours of torture, Sen was vomiting, his arms and legs were broken." Khadka says two policemen were propping Sen up against a wall as a jackbooted DSP Bikram Thapa kicked him repeatedly.

Bharat Sigdel, then a correspondent for Janadisha was also at the police club at that time. He says policemen taunted Sen, and assistant inspector general Amarsingh told him, "This country loves only Gyanendra. Do you really want to go against the thakuris who built this country. The army is going to be deployed.

The American Army will also be here. And you'll be six feet under, that's where you'll be. I'm a loyal solider of the king. I'll bury Prachanda and Baburam too, and pack off Sher Bahadur and Girija to jail."

Sources say that on 27 May, Sen's body was bundled into a sack and tossed into a Hilux that had its government number plates roughly coloured over red. The same night, Sen was secretly cremated at Aryaghat. DIG Shah said to his collaborators: "we were just joking, but Sen was already dead."

Yet, the government put out the news that Sen had been killed in an encounter in the Gokarna forest. The announcement didn't even include his name, just a description. The government under which Sen was killed made no comment. There has never been an investigation. The people involved in his murder are high-ranking police officers.

Shah denies being involved. "Such work was the domain of the unified command (the army). It was not our concern." He even denied knowledge of the fact that Krishna Sen had been caught. "Capturing, transporting, taking action was the lookout of the army. How would we know anything about it?" He then deflected the question to the headquarters. "And where is the accounting for all the policemen killed," he added. "No one is investigating incidents like Nepalganj or Naumule."

Asked again how the head of the Valley police could not have known, Shah replied: "That's how things were then. Anyway, this is an old story, and I don't need to know anything about it."

DSP Bikram Thapa was sent abroad right after Sen's murder and won a peacekeeping award. He also denies knowing anything about Sen's death. In fact, Thapa says, "I've never heard of Krishna Sen or of Janadesh weekly." Thapa who is at the Number 1 Battalion in Naxal is trying for a promotion. Sen was apparently taken into custody by Sub Inspector Vijaya Pratap Shah, who was immediately promoted to inspector. Shah returned from peacekeeping duties in Kosovo six months ago.