Post Report

BANKE, Jan 17 - The Parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Human Rights Committee said today that there was no reason to open fire inside the jail, Sunday.

The four-member committee, led by committee chairman, Som Prasad Pandey, came to the conclusion after acquiring information about Sunday’s firing from the police, eyewitnesses, jail authorities and the prisoners. The police fire killed two jail inmates when the prisoners chanted slogans pressing the jail authority to fulfil their 15-points demand.

"Police should not have opened fire inside the prison unless the inmates attempted to break the jail," committee chairman Pandey told the reporters after acquiring first hand information from concerned people.

Chief District Officer, Shyam Prasad Mainali, had ordered to fire in the air only, the enquiry team quoted the CDO as saying.

The people who died in the police firing were found to have shot on the head and shoulder. Eyewitness claimed that police opened fire pointing at the jail inmates.

The Foreign Affairs and Human Rights Committee members quoted Superintendent of Police, Arun Singh, as saying that the policemen just followed the CDO’s directives. More than 30 prisoners were injured during the four-hour long police fire. The jail inmates told the enquiry team that some of the prisoners were kept in hand-cuffs and chains in the cells. They also revealed that the injured were not provided with any medical treatment.

Committee chairman Pandey said that his team would submit its report within 10 days.

Meanwhile, the government has formed a one-man enquiry committee under Joint-Secretary Subarnalal Shrestha from the Special Police Department. However, the parliamentary team doubted that the one-man probe would come up with any substantial facts of the Sunday’s police firing.