'Probe Suresh Rajak's Killing and Bring the Guilty to Justice, We Are Ready to Pay the Government Rs 10 Lakh For This'

Two youths lost their lives during a protest of pro-royalist forces amid incidents of arson, looting, vandalism and police action in Koteshwor and Tinkune on March 28. 

Two weeks into the death of Suresh Rajak (33), a journalist on duty and Sabin Maharjan (29), a jeep driver from Gamcha, Kirtipur municipality-4, nepalverifiednews.com reached out to the bereaved families.

During a phone conversation, Dinesh Rajak, a journalist with lokpath.com and the elder brother of journalist Suresh Rajak, reiterated that the government should publicize the facts related to the tragic incident by forming a high-level investigation committee and take action against the guilty.

The government and pro-royalist forces have been blaming each other for the incident, Dinesh said referring to the loss of his brother’s life in suspicious circumstances, inside a building in Tinkune that was set afire on that day.

Even when fire started in the building (from where Suresh was covering the incident), the DSP in charge at Tinkune is learnt to have gone inside the building three times, Dinesh said. 

"At that time, he is heard saying that there had been no loss of life in the incident of arson. Did he not see my brother inside? Other people, who were inside the building, manage to come out? Why couldn’t Suresh come out, though there were many escape routes available?"

Dinesh suspects that his brother might have been killed and the footage of what happened in Tinkune that day destroyed for obvious reasons, pointing out that 

his camera used in covering the protest is missing. 

The incident site, the building from which Suresh was covering the protest, should have been cordoned off to preserve evidence, Dinesh said. Instead, the incident site is open for all, this shows extreme negligence on the part of the government, he said: The government appears bent on covering up this incident. 
 

Our reading of the incident is that it was a murder.  Who knows whether my brother was trapped in a fire that was raging from outside, who knows if he was not torched inside?  

On behalf of the bereaved family, he urged the government to conduct a free and fair investigation by forming a high-level investigation commission, bring out the facts and take action against the guilty.

"We don’t need the government compensation package. We are ready to pay the government Rs 10 lakh if the government fulfill our demand."    

Conduct a fair probe, punish the guilty and provide for the bereaved 

When we called up Kiran Maharjan, uncle of Sabin Maharjan, the bereaved family was in the midst of a 12-day ritual dedicated to Sabin.

Asked how Sabin’s wife and his eight-year-old daughter had been faring, Kiran said: Sabin was the sole breadwinner of his family and with Sabin gone, the family, which includes his wife and an eight-year-old daughter, has lost the means of livelihood:

Asked if some authority figures have come to meet them, console them and pledged to provide for them, Kiran said: No such official has come to meet the bereaved family.

On behalf of the bereaved family, Kiran reiterated that the state should make the facts public by conducting a judicial investigation into the incident, declare Sabin a martyr, provide relief and compensation to the family, provide for Sabin’s wife and their eight-year-old child.

The government has been trying to cover up Sabin’s killing, he alleged, calling on the human rights fraternity and other relevant actors to internationalize this incident if it does not get due attention at the national level.

Rajan KC, the lawmaker from Kathmandu constituency 10, the home constituency of Sabin and his family, said they were making efforts to provide relief and compensation to the family.

We have raised this issue in the Parliament and also drawn the attention of the Home Minister to this matter, KC said: The government has pledged a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to each of the bereaved families. 

KC said that together with other stakeholders, they were making efforts to provide a job to Sabin’s wife, arrange for the girl child's education and ensure the upkeep of the family.  

Pushkar Maharjan, a lawmaker at the Bagmati Provincial Assembly from Kirtipur, said they have drawn the attention of the Home Minister of the federal government to the incident and sought for the bereaved family. We could not raise this issue in the PA as it was no longer in session, he said.

Our lawmaker at the Federal Parliament, Rajan KC, has spoken on behalf of the bereaved family in the parliament, lawmaker Maharjan said: Rather than just talking, we want to do something for the family.

We are trying to provide for the family by providing her a job at the Kirtipur municipal office and arrange for the girl child’s education also, the lawmaker said: We are working to deliver justice to the family.