Bibek Kumar Sardar death case takes new turn as police allege planned killing at home

Mahottari, September 19, 2026 — Police have arrested four people in connection with the death of 22-year-old Bibek Kumar Sardar, whose dismembered body was found inside a septic tank in Banauta of Balwa Municipality-7, Mahottari, nearly two weeks after he went missing.

Sardar, the son of Ashok Kumar Batar of Bhangaha Municipality-6, had been reported missing on Bhadra 16 after he failed to return home from his sister’s house in Pigaun, Jaleshwar Municipality-9.

According to police, he had left his sister’s house on a motorcycle on the morning of Bhadra 15 after staying there overnight. His family filed a missing-person report at the District Police Office, Mahottari, after he did not return home.

During the subsequent search, police used CCTV footage, mobile-phone location analysis and other technical investigation methods to trace Sardar. His body was eventually found inside a septic tank behind the house of Ashok Kumar Thakur in Banauta on Bhadra 26.

Police said the body had been dismembered into nine pieces and concealed inside the tank, which had been newly plastered.

The investigation has since shifted from a missing-person case to an alleged murder case. Police said their preliminary findings indicate that Sardar was allegedly killed after his long-standing relationship with Sonu Kumari Thakur, the daughter-in-law of the Thakur family, came to light.

Police have arrested 58-year-old Ashok Kumar Thakur, his 55-year-old wife Ramkali Devi Thakur, their 22-year-old daughter-in-law Sonu Kumari Thakur, and 37-year-old Siyaram Sharma of Mahottari Rural Municipality-5 for investigation.

According to District Police Office Mahottari information officer Inspector Bishwambhar Nath Sah, investigators initially questioned Ashok after developing suspicion about the house. Police said he had not disclosed that his son Jitendra Thakur, Sonu’s husband, had secretly returned to Nepal from foreign employment.

Investigators reportedly found signs of recent work around the septic tank while searching the property. Police said Ashok subsequently admitted that Sardar had been killed and his body hidden there.