Inspector Hem Raj Bhatta was shot dead by his bodyguard Kamal Prasad Sharma while the former was still sleeping in the wee hours on Thursday, according to the District Police Office (DPO) of Dailekh. Sharma committed suicide after killing Bhatta, according to the police. [break]
However, Sharma´s relatives are not ready to accept the police´s claims. Accusing the police of trying to frame Sharma in Bhatta´s murder, they staged demonstrations in Dailekh bazaar throughout the day.
According to the police, Bhatta and Sharma were sleeping in separate rooms on the ground floor of a building inside the compound of the Dailekh DPO. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Prajwal Maharjan, who took charge of Dailekh DPO just a day ago, was sleeping on the first floor of the same building, where there was no one else.
“I heard two gunshots,” said DSP Maharjan. “As I descended to the ground floor, I heard another gunshot. They (Bhatta and Sharma) were both lying in a pool of blood.”
Bhatta, who sustained bullet injuries to his head, died on the spot. Sharma, who shot a bullet in his abdomen, breathed his last while being rushed to the hospital. The police say he was crying in pain and did not say anything about what actually happened while being rushed to the hospital.
An SLR has been found from the scene of the crime. The police say they are still clueless about how the SLR, which was supposed to be stored in Dailekh DPO, was taken to the building. The Bheri Zonal Police Office (ZPO) has deployed a three-member team to investigate into the incident. The team, led by the Bheri ZPO chief Madhu Pudasaini, has already reached Dailekh.
Police suspect Sharma might have killed Bhatta in a fit of anger as he was not allowed leave for Dashain festival. Sharma is a resident of Khadkabada VDC-5 of Dailekh district. His relatives encircled the Dailekh DPO for hours demanding a fair probe into the incident. Some protestors were injured when police tried to disperse them.
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