´Paras had gun‚ but I don´t know who fired´

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

NARAYANGADH: Bangladeshi national Rubel Choudhary, principal witness of the incident at Tiger Tops on December 11 last year, today presented himself before Chitwan District Administration Office and recorded his statement in connection with the alleged firing by former Crown Prince Paras Shah.

In his statement, former Deputy Prime Minister and NC leader Sujata Koirala’s son-in-law Choudhary said he had seen Paras holding a gun in his hand and heard the shots but did not know who actually opened fire. After Choudhary and Paras attended the DAO today, the office set April 27 for the next hearing.

Quoting Chaudhary, non-gazetted officer at DAO Hari Sigdel said, “We introduced ourselves under the influence of alcohol. I saw Paras holding a pistol in his hand. After he went to his room, I heard firing. But, I do not know who opened fire.”

Rubel gave his statement on the Tiger Tops incident in the presence of Chitwan CDO Basantaraj Gautam, legal aides of Paras Shah, government lawyers and his own legal advisers. In the course of airing his statement, Rubel said he had not filed any case pertaining to the incident as it was an ordinary incident and he did not want to go through legal hassles. Legal aide to Rubel Chaudhary advocate Siva Bahadur Pandey said, “Rubel has not demanded punishment against Paras in his statement.”

Rubel Chaudhary, who arrived here yesterday, had reached Chitwan DAO at 10 am in his private car. He was accompanied by former members of parliament Ekanath Ranabhat and Jagannath Poudel, former Deputy Prime Minister Sujata Koirala’s close aide Bharat Sapkota and some legal advisers. He left DAO at 12 noon. He said he would organise a press conference after returning to Kathmandu.

Meanwhile, former Crown Prince Paras Shah, who came in his private car via road from Kathmandu, showed up at Chitwan District Administration Office at 12:45 pm. He left DAO at 1:15 pm. High level security was deployed. While Paras was inside the DAO, hundreds of pro-royalists chanted slogans in support of monarchy demanding that the case against Shah be scrapped.

Badri Gautam, Paras’ legal aide, said case would be finalised on April 27, the date of the next hearing. Last Wednesday, Chitwan CDO Basantaraj Gautam had summoned Rubel to be present at the DAO today. A case was filed under Public Offence Act against Paras Shah for allegedly opening fire at Chitwan-based Tiger Tops Resort on December 14 last year at Chitwan DAO by the police. Shah was kept at Bharatpur-based Mid-Regional Police Training Center for three days after police took him under control from Pokhara on December 14.