Kathmandu, Aug 19: The Supreme Court has ordered police to resume investigation into the Gaur massacre that took place 18 years ago, following a writ petition filed by survivors, including Tribhuwan Sah.

Families of those killed and injured had complained that despite filing cases at the Rautahat District Police Office, no investigation had moved forward. The Court issued the order in their favor, directing the police headquarters and the Home Ministry to act.

The massacre has long been linked to Janata Samajbadi Party chair Upendra Yadav, who at the time led the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum. Several studies and reports, including one by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), had held Yadav and Forum cadres responsible for the violence, calling for formal charges.

On March 21, 2007, a violent clash broke out in a field in Gaur, Rautahat, where the Maoists and the Forum had scheduled programs on the same day. Twenty-seven Maoist cadres were killed, and over a hundred were injured.

The NHRC had earlier recommended investigation and prosecution of 130 individuals, including Yadav, based on complaints and findings of the government’s Gaur Massacre Probe Commission. The commission had concluded that Forum cadres violated the right to life, killing Maoist supporters who were already under their control.

The report also pointed to police inaction and the absence of the Chief District Officer throughout the day as contributing factors. It recommended action against them under prevailing laws.

Alongside Yadav, the report had named other figures, including Prabhu Sah, then secretary of the Madhesi Mukti Morcha, and Bindeshwar Yadav, former head of the Maoist “people’s government,” as bearing responsibility for escalating the violence.

According to officials, once the court orders an investigation into a criminal case, authorities are obliged to proceed, and arrests may follow if necessary.

People’s News Monitoring Service