Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha has stated that the police opened fire at Balkumari on Friday after reports that the vehicle of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Minister Prakash Jwala was encircled by protestors.
Speaking in the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR) on Monday, DPM Shrestha has cited negligence of the Employment Permit System (EPS) Office, the decision of Minister Jwala’s private security officer (PSO) to take the vehicle through the area where there was protest, and mistake of the security persons for the incident that led to killing of two youths.
The EPS Office seems to have conservatively interpreted the Patan High Court’s interim order allowing only 18 petitioners to appear in the language exams adversely affecting other 28,000 aspirants showing lack of wisdom in interpreting the court order, according to DPM Shrestha. “The Home Ministry has report that the EPS chief said there was nothing big and the protestors would stay there until three in the afternoon and return back when the law and order chief of the Home Ministry summoned the former to take stock of the situation. We have not found the EPS chief’s answer appropriate,” DPM Shrestha has elaborated.
He has also claimed that the situation would not have worsened had Minister Jwala’s vehicle not taken that route. “There was apparently meeting of Minister Jwala’s party near Balkumari. He then took that route to go to the ministry. Why did he take that route at such time? There was a bodyguard and a PSO. A normal PSO checks the route and listens to the instructions from the control room. Why did the security guard from the Nepal Army and the PSO not stop the vehicle?” he has questioned. “That played a role further. The police had resorted to lathi charge before that. Minister apparently resorted to questions and answers (with the crowd) after coming out of the vehicle. There was pushing and shoving. The army bodyguard then took him out of the crowd. He then returned back to the place where the meeting was held.”
DPM Shrestha has claimed that the police seem to have opened fire after reporting that there was a minister’s vehicle that was encircled. “One had been shot. The other had bruise. We are investigating whether it was due to tear gas shell or impact with a weapon from a close range.”
He has contended that the security persons on the field opened fire against instructions to not resort to firing in any circumstance.
“Home Ministry is a ministry with responsibility to maintain law and order. Our standard order was to not open fire in any circumstance. We have to tolerate even if we get hit by stones a bit as we are a responsible body,” he has stressed. “This is a case that needs to be investigated and not be left alone. Our preliminary analysis is that this is not a simple case and there was mistake somewhere.”
