Probe panel grills 16 police officials

The high-level probe commission interrogated 16 police officials in connection with their alleged role in the excessive use of force during the people’s movement-II on Tuesday.

Four Superintendents of Police (SP), six Deputy Superintendents (DSP) and six Inspectors recorded their statements at the commission’s office at Harihar Bhawan, Lalitpur, today.

Most of the police officials who spoke to media persons after their questioning claimed that they were not involved in atrocities against the pro-democracy agitators. They said they only followed the orders of the government as required by their professional ethics.

Those interrogated by the commission include SPs Surendra Bahadur Shah, Tula Bahadur KC, Dhananda Bhatta, and Rajan Bahadur Bista and DSPs Basanta Lama, Manoj Neupane and Thule Rai. They were working at different places during the 19-day long people’s movement in April this year.

The probe commission has already interrogated the chiefs of the Nepali Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force, other senior security officials and suspended chiefs of three security agencies and the National Investigation Department.

At least 21 agitators were killed and over 4000 others wounded in clampdown on the movement by the erstwhile royal regime.