An acquaintance waved to him from a distance with a gesture that seemed to say, "Long time no see!" The reply explained the question: "I go to Halchowk these days for regular workout." So that was the reason the acquaintance, who apparently went to another fitness center, hadn´t seen him for sometime. [break]
Then began what would almost be two hours of candid moments that former State Minister for Home Affairs Devendra Raj Kandel shared with myrepublica.com in what he dubbed as his "bonus life". Six years ago, after being shot six times by two assailants outside his house in Kusunti, Kandel had absolutely no reason to believe that things would ever be the same again.
Valor earns former minister, who braved six bullets and fought assassins with bare fists, a new lease of life
ALMOST ASSASSINATED
In the morning of August 29, 2003, the day after Maoist snipers assassinated army Colonel Kiran Basnet and seriously injured Colonel Ramindra Chhetri in Kathmandu, Kandel cleaned his personal, licensed shotgun in his Kusunti residence, mildly worried about his own safety.
Earlier in the morning, Kandel had reached the Police Club in Pradarshanimarga for his regular workout. There, he met then Police Chief Shyam Bhakta Thapa and requested that his security detail be given back. Just hours later, Thapa would regret not having acted quickly enough on Kandel´s request.
Almost a year had passed since Kandel´s stint as the state minister in the Deuba government that was dismissed by then King Gyanendra in October 2002.
It was during Kandel´s tenure as state minister that the government had declared a state of emergency and put price tags on Maoist leaders´ heads. The responsibility of announcing the price tag to the press had fallen on Kandel´s shoulders.
"The Cabinet took the decision. Someone had to announce it. I did. And that was enough to earn enmity with the former rebels," Kandel told myrepublica.com.
After lunch, Kandel left in his Pajero. He forgot to carry his shotgun. Kandel went to Singha Durbar, and then to the residence of Chitra Lekha Yadav in Sanepa for tea. There, he advised the Yadav couple to take extra security measures.
"While driving home from Sanepa, I realized that a motorcycle was following me," he recalled. "After reaching Ekantakuna, I unfastened the seatbelt and rang up at home. Unfortunately, no one answered."
Kandel´s intention was to ask his family members to open the gate as soon as he reached home, so that the probable assassins would have little time to attack him. At the turning from Ring Road to Kusunti, Kandel stopped his vehicle. Instead of overtaking him, the motorcycle stopped behind him. It was then that he had no doubts that a plan to assassinate him was unfolding.
Kandel didn´t budge for several minutes until the frustrated motorcyclist drove past him.
Kandel reached the gate of his residence at around 7 p.m. It was dusk and he had switched the headlights on, his eyes watchful of movements around him. On his rearview mirror, he saw the men approaching his vehicle. When they reached there, they abruptly stopped, turned around and aimed their guns from outside the windshield at a point blank range.
SOUND REFLEXES
For the next eight minutes, Kandel waged a lone battle for his life. He could think of nothing else, but to slip under the steering wheel. The assassins fired six shots. All of them went through the driver´s seat. Believing that the assassins were still standing in front of the vehicle, Kandel sped the vehicle hoping to run over the assassins. The vehicle crashed against a wall some 50 meters ahead and stopped. It was a dead end.
"I slowly raised my head and saw the two of them still aiming their pistols from outside the driver´s window. The assassins fired 11 more rounds. Six found their mark. Two pierced his arm, one got lodged between his ribs, one missed the spinal cord by 0.5 mm and reached his hip, and two pierced his right thigh. But Kandel was not yet in the mood to give up.
"When the firing stopped, I repositioned myself and looked outside the window. Both were putting new magazines in their guns," he said.
That was when Kandel realized that if he wanted to live, he had to fight them. He unlocked the door, hurled himself against the assassins, overpowered them on the ground and showered them with punches. "Back then, I sensed no pain. Instead, I was surprised with my agility and strength," he said.
Soon, a police van arrived, and the two ran away. His daughter Upama, then 18, whom he had instructed to switch off the lights in case she heard gunshots, had dutifully followed her father´s instructions and had dialed 100, though she was unsure who had shot whom. Upama was alone at home that evening.
After the noise of gunshots died out, she had asked the men standing there: "Who was shot?" "We shot your daddy," they said and left.
“GAVE THE BASTARDS A THRASHING"
At Patan Hospital where he was rushed to first, Kandel cheerfully told Dr Sunil Jha, an old acquaintance, "The bastards had guns. But I gave them a sound thrashing." He remembers instructing people from the stretcher till he passed out in the CT-scan room.
Kandel required a nine-hour surgery in Bir Hospital to extract bullets, another surgery in Bangkok to extract other bullets, years of physiotherapy, and a superhuman display of willpower and hope to finally get back to shape. But one bullet is still lodged near one of his right ribs.
At 52, Kandel is now an incredibly fit athlete. For someone unaware of the horrors Kandel went through in 2003, he perfectly fits in the shoes of the slightly aged version of the cheerful athlete who was a football star in Gorakhpur University, was selected in the Indian hockey national team in 1980, and got scholarships and free train rides for the better part of his university years in Gorakhpur owing to his athletic prowess.
Kandel, who was elected from Nawalparasi-4 in the 1994 and 1999 general elections, astonished his friends by winning the veteran Tennis National Games held in Halchowk recently.
Now a mahasamiti member of the Nepali Congress, Kandel has some grievances with the state. "I was targeted for what I did as a government minister. But the state left me without my security details soon after the government was dissolved," said Kandel.
Today, Kandel moves around with two personal security officers.
There is another grievance.
"After I was up and running again, I went to enquire about what had happened with the investigation into the attempt on my life. I was told that all the suspects were released as the police couldn´t find any lead," Kandel rued. The police are still in the dark about the identity of the assassins.
bikash@myrepublica.com
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