KRISHNA MOHAN SHRESTHA

ASSASSINATION OF IGP KRISHNA MOHAN SHRESTHA

INTRODUCTION

1.         Almost every nation of the world is terror stricken by the devilish activities of terrorists that knows no boundaries, territories or race. The unhindered mobility of the various terrorist groups to carry indiscriminate acts of terrorism has alarmed even the most advanced countries of the world today. For centuries, Nepal has been known as the abode of peace and tranquility. However in February 1996, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) operating as the United People's Front of Nepal declared of the so called "People's War".

2.         The acts of terrorism and associated trend of organized crimes seemed escalating within the kingdom and in response to cope the situation with the then His Majesty's Government of Nepal felt need for an elite force. As such, the consequence on the recommendations made thereby the Armed Police Force Establishment Suggestion Task Force, Armed Police Force was founded on the 24th of October 2001. Late Krishna Mohan Shrestha from Nepal Police then Additional Inspector General of Police being promoted to Inspector General of Armed Police Force was the first Chief and the Founding Father of the force.

3.         The Nepalese Civil War (labeled the People's War by the Maoists) was an armed conflict between government forces and Maoist fighters in Nepal which lasted from 1996 until 2006. The war was launched by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) on 13 February 1996, with the aim of overthrowing the Nepalese monarchy and establishing a 'People's Republic'. It ended with the Comprehensive Peace Accord signed on 21 November 2006. Shrestha was killed by the Maoist insurgents during the Maoist insurgency in Nepal. Krishna Mohan along with his wife and bodyguard was assassinated on the morning of 25 January 2003 by gunmen in Lalitpur, while he was taking a morning walk. His wife Nudup Shrestha was a senior teacher in the Lincoln School, Kathmandu. The message that raced across the country was that the Maoists were now going to target individuals occupying high positions in the capital, and that the Maoists had clearly abandoned the option for a dialogue.

AIM

4.         The aim of this case study is to highlight on the assassination of IGP Krishna Mohan Shrestha

SCOPE

5.         This case study will be based on following aspects.

(a)             Political Background

(b)             Who assassinated him and how?

(c)              Causes of the assassination

(d)             Security lapses

(e)               conclusions

POLITICAL BACKGROUND

6.         The Armed Police Force of Nepal is a paramilitary force tasked with counter-insurgency operations in Nepal. It functions as a semi-military wing, and occupies a sort of dual role as both military and law enforcement. Service is voluntary and the minimum age for enlistment is 18 years. Initially founded with a roster of 15,000 police and military personnel, the Armed Police Force is projected to have a corps of 40,000 at the close of 2015. In February 1996, the ideologically Maoist Communist Party of Nepal operating as the United People's Front of Nepal initiated what was then dubbed the "People's War". Ensuing armed resistance and criminal activity escalating from the conflict motivated King Gyanendra to consider amassing an independent police force. Subsequently, the Armed Police Force was founded on the 24th of October 2001. Late Krishna Mohan Shrestha of the Nepal Police (then serving as Additional Inspector General of Police) was its first Chief.

7.         The current command and control organization of Nepal's army is outlined along the protocol of the 1990 Constitution and its interim constitution. Its standing Inspector General is the Chief of Armed Police Forces, equivalent in rank to a three star Lieutenant General of the Nepal Army. Both articulate and humble, sophisticated yet unassuming, fiercely proud but simple in his needs, he was a man with a vision of what Nepal should be. “Even in his brief stay with us, my entire family and I were left with the feeling that he alone could change the violent political state of Nepal-which he could curb terrorism, restore peace to the streets and remove fear from people's minds. He had a blueprint for the future and was willing to invest his life and soul into making it a reality. Never before had I seen such determination and patriotism. He confided that he longed for a day when his job would become obsolete, when he could retire to the beautiful countryside with his family. While his job involved violence, Krishna Mohan was a pacifist who saw force as a last resort rather than a necessary tool. The tragedy on Ring Road happen a world away, but for me, the blood soaks my own backyard. May the IGP and his wife’s death be not in vain. May his spark light the way to a future of peace and progress.”- said pradeep from Washington D.C. 

8.         Shrestha was killed by the Maoist insurgents during the Maoist insurgency in Nepal. Krishna Mohan along with his wife and bodyguard was assassinated on the morning of 25 January 2003 by gunmen in Lalitpur, while he was taking a morning walk. His wife Nudup Shrestha was a senior teacher in the Lincoln School, Kathmandu. Krishna Mohan Shrestha was Nepal’s paramilitary Armed Police Force’s first Inspector General of Police.  When he was shot on the street on January 26, it was assumed it was the work of Maoists.  If so, he would be the highest ranking official to have been killed by them.  The 15,000-member Armed Police Force was created about a year and a half ago to combat the insurgents.  That the assassination of Shrestha took place while talks were underway for declaring  a cease-fire, and had pundits wondering if it might be designed to strengthen the Maoist hand in negotiations, an attempt by rogue hard-line elements of the party to sabotage the talks, or simply a hit team that did not get its orders on time.

WHO ASSASSINATED HIM AND HOW?

9.            The cold blooded murder of Nepal's Armed Police Force (APF) Chief Krishna Mohan Shrestha was unlike any other incident of violence that this Himalayan kingdom has witnessed during the Maoist insurgency that has plagued it for the past seven years. The APF was raised two years ago to combat the 'Maoist terrorists', much against the rebels' protests, as the Government felt that the civil police was not adequately trained to counter the guerrillas. Shrestha (56) was silenced with a burst of bullets in his face, along with his wife Nudup Shrestha, a teacher in the prestigious Lincoln School. His bodyguard, Surya Regmi, also died in the attack during Shrestha's routine morning walk on January 26, 2003. The message that raced across the country was that the Maoists were now going to target individuals occupying high positions in the capital, and that the Maoists had clearly abandoned the option for a dialogue.

10.       In an apparently dramatic reversal, however, the killing of one of the most respected men in uniform was followed by an announcement by the Government and the Maoists on Wednesday, January 29, that a cease-fire would be observed to facilitate the commencement of a peace process. The government readily agreed to remove Maoists off the list of terrorist organizations, and to erase reward fixed on heads of certain Maoist leaders. The government would also notify the international community, including INTERPOL, which the red-corner notices issued against some Maoist leaders should be annulled.

11.       The shooting took place on Ring Road outside of Lalitpur when Shrestha, his wife (a teacher at Lincoln School) and a bodyguard were out for their morning walk.  All three were killed.  Police followed a trail of blood to a nearby house, where they arrested Krishna Mohan Sainju as an accomplice to the murder.  Sainju told the police that it was his role to signal the arrival of the Inspector General (IGP) to five armed assailants.  In the course of the firing, Sainju received a bullet in his leg.  Police believe him to be the local commander of the Bhaktapur ring of Maoist terrorists.  Following the murders, Prime Minister Chand summoned an emergency cabinet meeting.  Security measures in the capital were intensified with checkpoints being set up at entry points to Kathmandu from Lalitpur. Witnesses observed as many as seven police buses being loaded with suspects be taken in for interrogation. A Maoist commander has been arrested in connection with the killing of the chief of Nepal's armed police force and his wife. Krishna Hari Sainju, Maoist commander of Bhaktapur district, was arrested from a house near the incident site at Bagdole in Lalitpur district on the outskirts of Kathmandu. An armed gang of five persons had shot dead IGP Krishna Mohan Shrestha, his wife Nudup Shrestha and bodyguard assistant sub inspector.

12.       Surya Regmi. Dilip Kumar Prajapati ('Bhisma'), general secretary of the Young Communist League, and Krishna Hari Saiju ('Bibek') have spoken out for the first time about their involvement on the murder of first Inspector General of the Armed Police Force Krishna Mohan Shrestha, his wife Nudup and bodyguard Surya Regmi, who were killed on 26 January 2003. "The orders to kill the IGP came from the central committee and Nishchal Nakarmi, Surendra Shrestha, Rajkumar Shrestha and Bina Magar of PLA Special Task Force were also involved during the planning stages. Nakarmi and Magar were arrested later and are among the many who were disappeared at the Bhairabnath Battalion," said Saiju.

13.       "At first we did not know much about the plan to kill the IGP or about his lifesyle, soon we sent our people to snoop around his residence and later learnt that he goes for regular morning walks, but would change routes for security purposes. Shrestha was under surveillance since July 2002 and our plan was to take action by September 2002. We failed 16 times because he was always changing his routine," adds Prajapati. "In mid January 2003 PLA's special commander Umesh Lama and I, section members Rolpali Magar and Juju Bhai Guerrilla arrived in Bagdol, Lalitpur. Guerrilla is now company commander of PLA's Third Division and Lama is not in the PLA anymore. On the night of 25 January, I was called by Lama and was informed about the plan to attack IGP Shrestha in front of a restaurant while he was walking on the road," said Saiju.

14.       Magar, Guerrilla, Lama, and Saiju set out early in the morning on 26 January. "When we saw IGP Shrestha, his wife, and his bodyguard coming down from Ekanta Kuna, Lama took charge. Our plan was to kill Shrestha and shoot his wife in the leg. At 7.30 AM we came face to face with Shrestha, but he and his bodyguard did not recognise us because we were in civvies. The plan was to have Magar in the middle of the road, Lama, Guerrilla and I on the side. We were standing 2-3 metres apart and were to finish our job in two minutes, but it did not take us that long. They were killed in a few seconds. Guerrilla's pistol was not covered, so when he took it out, it fired by mistake and hit me in my thigh. I lost consciousness. Just as I opened my eyes Magar and Guerrilla shot the IGP, and his wife. Magar then aimed at the bodyguard but his pistol didn't fire. Magar was coming to grab mine when Lama fired at the bodyguard. After he was hit, Magar ran to a secure place and Guerrilla and Lama came to get me," Saiju added. Police later arrested Saiju from Patan Hospital where he was undergoing treatment.

CAUSES OF HIS ASSASINATION

15.       The assassination was purely a political cause. The then Maoists who were titled as terrorists at that time killed Krishna Mohan Shrestha. Mr Shrestha became the head of Nepal's armed police force when it was formed about two years ago to combat the Maoist rebels. The rebels were waging a violent campaign to turn the Himalayan kingdom into a communist state. Violence between the rebels and Nepalese security forces has intensified after failed peace talks. Much of the countryside was either under Maoist control or not actively patrolled by the army or the police. Correspondents say it is rare for the rebels, who often target remote police camps, to strike in the capital. The rebellion has destabilised the political situation in Nepal and all but wrecked a once thriving tourist economy. Such was the situation at that period of the Nepalese history.

16.       By assassinating the IGP beefing up security for leading officials would become necessity for all the officials in the country.

(a) It could give shock waves all across the country

(b) By that time it Krishna mohan shrestha would be the highest ranking security forces to be assassinated by the rebels which would an achievement to the terrorists for terrorizing the whole country

(c)  Killing the IGP could give message to everybody that none was safe

(d) Beefing up security would be necessary for all the high ranking officials that would more scatter the existing security arrangements which would lead to insufficiency of security forces all across the country

(e) Assassination as a tactic had been rare and would be seen as a significant escalation in the conflict.

(f)   The message was straight that shrestha who was honest, uncorrupt official could be killed then anyone or any high ranking officials could be killed to further the causes of the insurgents.

SECURITY LAPSES

17.       The security lapses that caused the murder of late IGP Krishna mohan shrestha could be as follows:

(a) Ineffective intelligence.         The intelligence network could not bring out such information about the assassination. Had the intelligence network been more reliable, may be the assassination could be stopped.

(b) Effective intelligence of terrorists. The intelligence network of terrorists was effective because they could bring out the daily habit of late shrestha. They were successful to know about the changing routes by the IGP during his morning walks for security reasons.

(c)  Insufficiency of security guards.  Only the assistant inspector of police was not enough as a security guard for such a high ranking official. More guards and which were specially trained persons would be better as guards.

(d) No presence of security forces.  No security forces in the area of assassination was another reason for the successful assassination because of which more than 8 shooters shot the trio in the incident site.

(e) Inactive bodyguard. The body guard being was unable to recognize the threats that were imminent. So trained bodyguard could be better.

CONCLUSION

18.       The Nepalese Civil War (labeled the People's War by the Maoists) was an armed conflict between government forces and Maoist fighters in Nepal which lasted from 1996 until 2006. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)   launched the war on 13 February 1996. The main aim of the war was to overthrow the Nepalese monarchy and establish a 'People's Republic'. It ended with the Comprehensive Peace Accord signed on 21 November 2006. The acts of terrorism and associated trend of organized crimes seemed escalating within the kingdom and in response to cope the situation with the then His Majesty's Government of Nepal felt need for an elite force. As a result of which Armed Police Force was founded on the 24th of October 2001. It was led by late IGP Krishna Mohan Shrestha as a Founding Father of the force.

19.       The prospect for peace in the country depends upon the choices that these stakeholders make. Meanwhile, all we can do is keep the pressure on all sides to pursue the path of peace without sacrificing democratic pluralism. In a multi-ethnic society, there is no alternative to a system that derives its strength from diversity. At the end of a hard and bitter winter this truce, however fragile, is a respite for the Nepalese. The people have less to lose than those who have higher stakes. Let’s just hope it’s not a false spring.