The eight-year-old walking home hand in hand with his aunt Shova Karki was hit by a bullet at 9 a.m. when a group of thugs opened fire on locals in a petty neighborhood dispute. The innocent child and three others including Shova were shot and injured as the thugs stormed Birendra Chowk in Gothatar-8. [break]
Santosh didn´t have fate on his side when he was driven off for treatment too late. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Kathmandu Medical College Teaching Hospital, Sinamangal.
Gothatar went into shock, the school closed, and the injured lay unconscious at the hospital premises the whole day. It had all started with someone passing a comment on the dumping of construction material on the roadside by a building contractor.
Ratna Lama, who is president of the Nepal Construction Entrepreneurs Association Kavre, had unloaded crushed rocks roadside at Birendra Chowk for building his house. Rajaram Khadka requested Lama not to block the road but was smacked on the jaw by one of Lama´s sons. Police intervened and settled the matter.
But the Lamas had other plans and no sooner had Rajaram approached his home than a group of around 15 stormed Birendra Chowk. "There were three motorbikes and many others here and there. One person with long hairs shot at Rajaram and another fired at other locals to prevent them from intervening. One bullet knocked the schoolboy down," said Sabina Khadka, an eyewitness.Rajaram was shot thrice in the thigh and another local, Gajendra Basnet, also received a bullet in the leg. Shova was shot in the hand. The locals fought off the thugs and chased them while they also set fire to two bikes and severely thrashed Pasang Lama and Rameshwar Shrestha, whom locals identified as the ones opening fire. Police recovered a pistol and three rounds of ammunition from them.
According to police sources, Ratna Lama´s sons Palden, Phurwa and Chhiring had brought in the thugs even though the family had already reconciled with the locals. Palden, who is at large with his brothers following the incident, has long been wanted by police in public offense cases.
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