Nepal Govt sends team to investigate Darchula incident along India border

Image courtesy: The Kathmandu Post

Kathmandu: Nepal Home Ministry on Monday (August 2) sent a five-member probe panel to Darchula district to investigate the incident where a Nepalese man washed away in the Mahakali river along the Indian border. The panel has been asked to submit its report within 10 days after carrying out an onsite investigation.

For now, the Home Ministry has dismissed the reports of India-Nepal border guarding force Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) allegedly snapping the rope of an improvised cable. 

“A five-member committee has been sent on-site to investigate the incident and after receiving the report we will see what further needs to be done. However, we have not received any reports of involvement of the Indian side in the mishap yet,” Phanindra Mani Pokharel, Joint Secretary of Home Ministry told Zee Media.

The probe panel includes Joint-Secretary of the Home Ministry, Janardan Gautam, Deputy Inspector General of Nepal Police, Purushottam Kandel, Investigation Officer of the National Investigation Department, Hutraj Thapa, Senior Superintendent of Armed Police Force, Suresh Kumar Shrestha, and Assistant Chief District Officer of Darchula, Jyotsana Bhatta. 

Assistant Chief District Officer of Darchula, Jyotsana Bhatta refused to speak to Zee Media on the incident. 

The mishap took place on Friday when Jaya Singh Dhami, 33, who was going to his home in Khalanga, fell into the river while trying to cross it through an improvised cable carriage.

A day after the incident, the Home Ministry issued a statement, asking the media to not disseminate "misleading" information, as the incident is under investigation.

The ministry spokesperson, Fanindramani Pokharel, in the statement asked all concerned "not to publish any misleading news in the matter as the incident (SSB untying the cable) has not yet been proven true”.

A team of security forces has been deployed to the incident site for fact-finding purposes, the statement said.

In a separate statement, Assistant Chief District Officer of Darchula, Jyotsana Bhatta had earlier said that her office has sent a letter to the local authority concerned in India to help to initiate action for finding the facts related to the incident.

Earlier, CPN (UML) issued a statement strongly condemning the ‘inhuman and cruel incident’ of the death of Jaya Singh Dhami and urged the Government of Nepal to inquire properly, to seek clarification from India, and to provide compensation.