Inspector General of Nepal Police Basanta Kunwar has pointed out at the lack of logistics and resources of police while briefing the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR) about killing of two youths in Balkumari on Friday.
IGP Kunwar has stressed that the sad incident would not have occurred if Physical Infrastructure and Transport Minister Prakash Jwala had not taken that route but has also elaborated how lack of logistics create challenges for the Nepal Police in maintaining law and order.
He has pointed that the police in three districts of the Kathmandu Valley cannot communicate in the same channel. He has stated that the police force cannot buy communication system and accept whatever foreigners donate. He has revealed that the police force in Kathmandu uses communication set of Motorola and that in Lalitpur uses Hytera system, and added that the two systems are not compatible to each other and cannot be integrated to function in a single channel. He has also rued that the communication system used by the police does not work outside the Valley.
He has told the committee that the private security officer (PSO) of Minister Jwala had contacted the Valley Police Office for coordination and information during the incident at Balkumari saying the minister’s vehicle had already reached there. He has added that the Lalitpur Police knew about that only after the Valley Office communicated so to the Lalitpur Police implying that the Lalitpur Police would have known about the minister’s vehicle moving toward the troubled area sooner had the police force throughout the valley communicated through the same channel.
Minister Jwala has also claimed that his security detail did not know about the situation in Balkumari area and the route before his vehicle went out of the party palace where his party had organized a program. “We went out normally as we did not have any information from the security bodies,” Minister Jwala has stated.
IGP Kunwar has also stated that the police lack vehicles and protective shields needed for riot control in the Valley and revealed that the force had to borrow shields and body protectors from Butwal and Gandaki, and the training center during the recent protest of Durga Prasai. “It would be better if we could move forward becoming sensitive even to these things.”
He has also provided the timeline of the incident to the committee during the briefing. “Some force was used at 11:30. Minister was going toward Koteshwore from party palace. The PSO did not coordinate for seeking information at the time. There was situation of manhandling at 11:54,” he has briefed. “The PSO took the minister toward a safe place. The minister’s vehicle was torched at 12. It is not sure when shots were fired. Such incident would not have occurred had the minister’s vehicle not arrived.”
