Translated from Jansatta

Hindi, Chandigarh

28 April 1997

In what can be viewed as a major breakthrough in the murder case of the Principal of Tibetan Institute of Buddhist Dialectics and his two disciples, who were found stabbed to death on February 4, the Commissioner of Kangra Police, Rajeev Kumar Singh, revealed that two out of the six murderers have been identified.

"Despite our country-wide search for the two, we have no idea of their whereabouts. Under such circumstances, we have misgivings that they have already left the country," said the Commissioner.

He disclosed that a bag, grabbed by the deceased Principal of the Institute from one of his assailants, had been retrieved from the site of murder, which contained a pair of gloves, a handkerchief and a torch, besides some explosive documents about the Dorjee Shugden Deity brought out by the cult contingent in New Delhi, which indicated the possibility of the involvement of Dorjee Shugden followers in the incident. The documents cited the use of bloodshed to silence the opposition to the worship of the deity.

The Police Commissioner said that the late Lobsang Gyatso had returned from abroad on 31 January. The attendant of the deceased admitted that late Lobsang Gyatso received threats from the Dorjee Shugden followers and admitted having requested him to be more cautious. On the basis of this information, the police identified the top-rung leaders of Dorjee Shugden Committee in Majnu-ka-Tilla in Delhi and asked five people including Chemi Tsering to come to Dharamsala and assist them in their investigation.

It was the police in Majnu-ka-tilla, who came to know that six Tibetan youth had left for somewhere in a taxi (THA-4283) on the night the deceased had left for Dharamsala from Delhi.

According to Mr. Singh, when, on the basis of this information, a search was conducted for the taxi, its driver, Mangat Ram, confessed that the six youth had asked him to go to Dharamsala and follow the vehicle in which the deceased was travelling. Upon his enquiry, the driver was reportedly told by the youth that they had left their baggage in the vehicle they were pursuing. The taxi, however, broke down in Ambala and they hired another taxi. But not before they made a call from an STD booth.

Because the call was made very late in the night, it was traced to the phone number 2932536 in Majnu-ka-Tilla in Delhi, which belonged to Chemi Tsering. This information further boosted the pace of the investigation. After interrogating in various hotels in Kangra and Dharamsala, it was found that on 1 February, the six youth had stayed in the Grand Hotel in Kangra before leaving on 4 February. They had identified themselves as hailing from Dharamsala and gave excursion as the purpose of their visit. Hotel workers mentioned a canvas bag and a torch in their belongings, which they identified later. In this way the police came to know that the six youth were the culprits.

Mr Singh said that some pictures were recovered after a raid in certain follower's residents in Suja in Mandi district and Dharamsala. The crime fell on the six youth after the hotel workers and the taxi driver identified two youth from the pictures.

The name of the two assailants are Lobsang and Tenzin, aged between 22 and 25, and both hailing from Mundgod Settlement in Karnataka. They have been regularly travelling between India and Nepal.

When an investigation party was dispatched to Karnataka, they came to know that Tenzin hailed from the Sera monastery in Bylakuppe and with the help of the local police, it was found that his full name is Tenzin Choejam and he came to India on 29 March, 1985. His registration number is 308 and Green book no. is 312. He hails from Chatring in Tibet and is notorious for his involvement in violence against the Dorjee Shugden opposition. Despite having been expelled from the monastery, he had been living there.

After an investigation in Gadhen Shartse monastery in Hubli, it was found out that the other assailant is Lobsang Choedrak from Chatring in Tibet, who came to India in 1991. The investigation further revealed that Lobsang has an uncle in Dharamsala and some years ago, he had left the monastery on the excuse that he had to look after his uncle.

The police commissioner said that there is a strong contingent of Dorjee Shugden followers in Karnataka with some influential persons as top-rung leaders, and on account of this they couldn't get much assistance from the Tibetan community there in the investigation. He believes that all the assailants have escaped to Nepal.

Pictures of the Tenzin and Lobsang have been circulated around the country and assurance of help has been sought from the Interpol, which gives some hope that the two will be caught, sooner or later.