To better understand the events, the following is an excerpt from police chief Achyut Krishna Kharel’s autobiography, originally published in 2018:
“Take the force to Kalimati and rescue the men held hostage there, ” I ordered the DSP of Kathmandu Valley Ravi Kant Aryal.
He took with him a truck full of the police and charged at the mob starting in Trupureswor.
People had begun to disperse when the Home Minister and the IGP made their way to the site from Kalimati. From far away, it looked like the Minister was leading the mob. He told the police not to advance. And so, Aryal retreated.
He threw down his weapon before me and said, “They are going to kill the policemen and yet the Home Minister tells us to retreat. What is the meaning of being a police officer in this country?” I asked him not to be disheartened.
When I heard the news that the mob had assaulted the Home Minister and IGP, I sent two trucks full of police to save them. With the help of a Congress politician Ang Dorje Lama, we rescued the two from near Khula Manch. Unfortunately, we were not able to free the policemen who were being held by the local security association.
Reports came in that the captured police had been beaten senseless and were being paraded around town. The protesters were trying to take them to Singha Darbar via Hanuman Dhoka and Ratna Park.
When the crowd reached Putali Sadak, traffic in-charge Ashok Singh reported the situation to me. I ordered Narayan Bastakoti and the team to go on an ‘all-out action’.
Once the police advanced, the crowd dispersed. We charged ahead with batons and took the injured policemen and people to Bir Hospital. The six policemen who had been attacked in Teku succumbed to their injuries.
The people who called themselves pro-democracy killed innocent policemen who were just doing their duty.
Hari Raj Adhikari retired after serving the police for ten years and later went abroad. He returned to Nepal after 15 years and settled in Bharatpur. He is currently in the transportation business.
Read more: Nepal’s cycles of revolution, Nepali Times
As told to Sabita Shrestha
Translated from Nepali original in Himalkhabar monthly magazine.