Kathmandu, Nov 4: The commission formed to investigate the September 8 and 9 Gen-Z protest incidents has barred several senior police commanders from leaving the Kathmandu Valley after the Nepal Police failed to submit details of all personnel deployed during the protest. Statements from some of the commanders began on Monday.
According to commission sources, the police headquarters was instructed early on to provide a detailed list of deployed personnel, but it failed to do so despite multiple reminders. Consequently, on Sunday, the commission formally issued movement restrictions on key commanders and notified the Nepal Police’s Secretariat of Inspector General.
While the headquarters acknowledged that personnel ranging from constables to Additional Inspector Generals (AIGs) were deployed, it did not provide individual names. This prompted the commission to directly issue restrictions to specific commanders.
Earlier, the commission had analyzed call detail records (CDRs) of several officers and completed investigations into incidents such as the release of President of Rastriya Swatantra Party Mr Rabi Lamichhane from Nakhhu Jail, the looting of weapons from police units, and orders allegedly instructing officers on duty to abandon their posts. Based on these findings, the commission issued the movement restriction orders, which will remain effective until the investigations conclude.
Officers under restriction
Those barred from leaving the Kathmandu Valley include AIG Dan Bahadur Karki (Valley Police Chief), DIG Om Bahadur Rana (Acting Chief on September 8), SSPs Deepshamser JBR, Bishwa Adhikari, Shyam Krishna Adhikari, SPs Suresh Kafle, Madhav Budhathoki, and DSPs Sundar Tiwari, Hemant Bhandari Chhetri, Dhundhiraj Neupane, and Eliza Giri, among others.
Several DSPs from police circles — including Bauddha (Jayaswar Rimal), Gaushala (Sukdev Khanal), Durbar Marg (Rajkumar Shrestha), Balaju (Gyan Bahadur Bista), Janasewa (Krishna Kumar Chand), Jagati (Ramesh Kumar Pal), Satdobato (Ram Kumar Yadav), Swayambhu (Uddhav Singh Bhat), Kirtipur (Raj Babu Maharjan), and Chapagaun (Yam Kumar Shrestha) — are also restricted from leaving the Valley.
DSP Niranjan Thapa from Maharajgunj is currently in the U.S. for training, and the restriction will apply to Acting Chief Inspector Sudarshan Panthi, according to the commission. Although Kalimati, Thimi, and Lainchaur police circles avoided weapon losses during the unrest, their DSPs are still under mild restriction.
The commission has also ordered the recall of commanders currently outside the Valley. DIG Om Bahadur Rana, now heading the Far-Western Police Office in Dhangadhi, has been instructed to return to Kathmandu for further questioning related to another ongoing inquiry.
The commission source said that other officers transferred or reassigned outside Kathmandu during or after the protest are also being brought back for questioning.
However, the commission has not yet consulted with the Armed Police Force (APF) and Nepal Army. These two security organizations were not responding to protesters or supporting the Nepal Police when there was mass looting, arson in major government installations including Singh Durbar, Supreme Court, Parliament Building, among others. #nepal #genz
