HEADLINE NEWS THE RISING NEPAL (DAILY)

Chief of armed police force shot dead

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Jan.26: Inspector General of the Armed Police Force (APF) Krishna Mohan Shrestha, 55, his wife Nudup and bodyguard Sub Inspector Surya Regmi were shot dead by unidentified assailants while on a morning walk in Lalitpur this morning at about 7:35.

The government suspects the Maoists terrorists to be behind the killings. Police sources said a person wounded in the leg during the shoot out has been arrested. "The man identified as Krishna Hari Sainju could reveal a lot of information regarding the killing of the IGP and two others," said a police official.

Patan Hospital sources confirmed with The Rising Nepal that a person with bullet injuries on the leg was brought to the hospital by police this morning. After treatment, he was again taken away by the police, the source said.

The three were shot at close range at the Bagdol crossroads on the Ring Road in Lalitpur. The incident site lies about 2.75 kilometres from their residence at Kalanki in Kathmandu. The bodies were first taken to nearby Patan Hospital, where they were declared dead. Then the bodies were taken to the Birendra Police Hospital at Maharajgunj, where the post mortem were carried out.
Although the post mortem reports have not been made public, IGP Shrestha was shot on the head and reportedly died on the spot. Mrs. Shrestha was shot on the chest.

The dead body of IGP Shrestha and his wife are being kept at their residence at Kalanki so that people can pay their last tributes, while Regmi's body lies at the Birendra Police Hospital. Nudup was a teacher at Lincoln School.

"The last rites of IGP Shrestha will be performed tomorrow," said the secretariat of the APF.
The news of IGP Shrestha's death spread like wildfire, and people were stunned and overwhelmed by the killing of such a 'competent' police officer.

Hundreds of people had gathered at the site of the shooting despite the cold and the thick fog. There seemed to be no eyewitnesses, but the local people said they did hear gunshots.

An old woman, whose house lies just in front of the shooting site, said she was sitting by the fire when she heard, which sounded like, gun shots. She peeped through the door but could see nothing. She heard footsteps running east. She and her husband came out only after they heard the voices of people and saw the three bodies on the road.

Another person said he peeped from his window and saw a person staggering. He was trying to take a lift from vehicles going towards Lagankhel. A white vehicle stopped, and he got in. A crowd had gathered at the Patan Hospital after word spread that a person with bullet injuries was in the hospital. The emergency unit was barred for outsiders for about four hours.

One woman said IGP Shrestha was wearing trousers, a jacket and a cap. A police van came after about 15 minutes of the incident and took away the body of the IGP. Soon there was another vehicle that took the bodies of Nudup and Regmi. Although the locals were willing to share what they saw or heard, they refused to reveal their identities.

A police official of the District Police Office, Lalitpur, requesting anonymity, said that they came to know of the incident from a taxi driver. It took us some time to find the place because of the fog, he said.

Shrestha was born in Chainpur of Sankhuwasabha district in eastern Nepal in 2004 B.S. He had joined the police force on Poush 13, 2027 B.S. as police inspector. He was Assistant Inspector General of Police before he was made IGP of the Armed Police Force two years ago. The armed police force was established in 2057 B.S. through an ordinance to control the Maoists' terrorist activities.

Shrestha's ancestral home at Chainpur was also attacked by the Maoist terrorists about eight months ago.

This is the first attack on a high ranking police officer after a Superintendent of Police was shot dead in Lamahi in Dang in mid-west Nepal about a year ago by the Maoist terrorists. The Council of Ministers in its meeting today has condemned the grisly attack. The central security management sub-committee of the National Security Council also met today to make security more effective and reliable, said the Ministry of Defence.

The meeting, which was chaired by Chief of the Army Staff Gen. Pyar Jung Thapa, condemned the "cowardly and inhumane act of the terrorists."

"Security forces are committed to restore peace and order while quelling terrorism from the country," the statement read.

The Home Ministry in another statement called Shrestha an honest and dedicated police officer. The Ministry said security forces have been mobilised at different points of the Kathmandu Valley to hunt for the killers.

However, the Home Ministry declined to reveal details about the incident and whether any arrests had been made.

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