KATHMANDU, August 2: The government has formed a five-member probe committee to investigate the case in which a Nepali national went missing in Karnali River after Indian SSB men allegedly cut an improvised cable crossing over Karnali River in Darchula district.
The five-member probe committee is led by Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs Janardan Gautam. The committee includes DIG of Nepal Police Purushottam Kandel, Investigation Director of National Investigation Department Hutaraj Thapa, Senior Superintendent of Armed Police Force (APF) Suresh Kumar Shrestha and Assistant Chief District Office of Darchula district Jyotsana Bhatta as members.
CPN-UML demands probe into Darchula incident
The committee has been given 10-day time to submit its report. Although Indian officials have denied any involvement in cutting off the improvised cable crossing, eyewitnesses and relatives of Jaya Singh Dhami, 33, who has gone missing since the incident, have claimed that Indian SSB men had cut off the cable while Dhami was crossing the Mahakali River to reach his home.
Because of the difficult topographical conditions and lack of road connectivity on the Nepali side of the border, people in bordering districts including Darchula use the road built on the other side of the Mahakali river to reach their own district headquarters. Indian authorities would also not pose any obstruction on such a movement of Nepali nationals.
This news about missing Dhami has sparked widespread protest against Indian authorities in Nepal with all political parties and their sister organizations demanding probe into the incident and action against those responsible for deliberately cutting off the cable crossing while he was using the cable crossing to reach his district headquarters. They have said that such inhumane behavior on the part of SSB was not expected, especially when people use cable crossing as the last resort to reach their own home.
