 |
|
| Kathmandu, Tuesday January 28, 2003 Magh 14, 2059. |
|
Slain APF chief given hero’s
honour, thousands attend couple’s funeral
By Kiran Chapagain
KATHMANDU, Jan 27 : The Armed Police Force (APF)
chief Krishna Mohan Shrestha, a victim of cold-blooded murder, allegedly perpetrated by
Maoists, was given a hero’s farewell, as his last rites were observed at the
Pashupati Aryaghat, on the banks of the Bagmati River today. The pyre of Nudup Shrestha,
his wife and constant companion in life and death, was also lit along side.
Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand, most of
his cabinet colleagues, former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and a host of other
dignitaries, besides close relatives and friends of the Shrestha couple, placed wreaths as
their bodies were placed on the flower bedecked pyre. Hundreds of mourners joined the
funeral amidst tight security arrangements.
The APF personnel sounded the last post to bid
farewell to their founded chief. Army, APF and civil police officials besides their
relatives, formed part of the funeral procession that traversed a 12-km route from their
residence in Kalanki to the Aryaghat. The Shrestha couple’s bodies had been taken to
their residence from the Birendra Police Hospital and were kept overnight to facilitate
the relatives and well-wishers to pay their homage.
His brother Jas Mohan Shrestha and his eldest
and youngest daughters Namita and Kirti Shrestha offered the dag batti to the slain
couple, while one daughter was away in New Zealand.
Earlier, the funeral procession of the Shrestha
duo from their residence at Kalanki, passed through various parts of the town before
reaching Aryaghat.
Similarly, the last rites of the APF chief’s
bodyguard Surya Prasad Regmi, who was the third victim of the suspected terrorist attack
yesterday, were observed on the banks of the Kali Gandaki river in Parbat district, his
birth place.
The thirteen year-old-son of the slain
bodyguard, lit the funeral pyre, according to our reporter in Parbat.
Chief of the Chandi APF Battalion Babu Ram
Karki, government and civil police officials at the district, paid their last tributes to
Regmi, followed by a guard of honour by an APF battalion.
Other Stories
|
