KATHMANDU, March 30: The late Suresh Rajak spent ten years as the head of the camera and video division at Avenues TV.
Despite being from Tahachal, Kathmandu, the 33-year-old resided in Chandragiri Municipality. He and his coworkers, Paras Shrestha and Anil Rayamajhi, were tasked by their superiors to cover a demonstration in the Tinkune region on Friday.
What started as a peaceful protest quickly descended into chaos. Demonstrators vandalized and set fire to both private and government properties, while the police struggled to bring the situation under control.
Suresh streamed live videos of the unfolding events while Paras and Anil assisted him. By around 2 PM, chaos erupted near the Marble House building.
Security forces fired tear gas from the upper floor (roof) of the building at the protesters, spurring the protesters to make the building the target of their anger. Some demonstrators vandalized the building's shutter.
Once they broke the shutter open, Suresh rushed inside, leaving Anil behind to capture exclusive footage. Other journalists followed him inside. Every journalist seeks exclusive footage to deliver compelling news.
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"That's why Sir (Suresh) rushed upstairs so quickly. I didn't get a chance to talk to him further," Anil said.
Protesters who had gone to the upper floors started throwing documents and other materials, while those on the ground floor set the building on fire.
As the fire spread, Paras and Anil called Suresh multiple times. "But he didn't answer," Paras said. The flames soon reached the first floor. Other journalists who had entered the building to cover the news managed to escape. However, they saw Suresh filming on the third floor.
Although he did not answer his colleagues' calls, Anil stated that Suresh remained in contact with the studio when the fire reached the first floor.
As the situation grew more chaotic, security forces fired more tear gas. Anil and Paras moved further away, but Suresh stopped responding to their calls. They suspected he was trapped inside.
Anil and Paras pleaded with the police to search for Suresh, but the officers, under pressure from the protesters, were unable to focus on their request. At that moment, a fire truck from Kathmandu Metropolitan City arrived to put out the fire.
Due to the protesters' stone pelting, the fire truck had to turn back. Suresh's colleagues expressed frustration that the police ignored their efforts to control the fire. Anil recalls that despite repeatedly informing the authorities about their trapped colleague, the police appeared unconcerned. When they asked for a fire truck, they were told it wasn't possible at that time.
Anil mentioned that Suresh's phone remained reachable until 3:30 PM, adding, "The protesters were chaotic, but the state authorities didn't show any concern, which was unfortunate."
Anil and Paras appealed to the protesters to help rescue their trapped colleague inside the building. After some time, the crowd around the building began to thin out. The Armed Police Force's fire truck arrived, and while the fire had diminished, it had not been fully extinguished.
The Armed Police Force claimed no one was inside the building. Afterwards, Anil and Paras contacted nearby hospitals and informed their office about the situation. They found no information about Suresh.
In the evening, the police brought the fire under control and found Suresh in a half-burnt state. The combined failures of the government, state authorities, and the chaotic protesters led to Suresh's death in the incident.
It remains unclear whether Suresh, confident in taking risks, fell into the flames or whether someone locked him inside a room and brutally murdered him. Only a police investigation can reveal the truth. His colleagues can only say, "If the security personnel had been deployed as we requested, we wouldn't have lost Suresh."
On Saturday, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak visited the Avenues TV office to gather more information on the matter. During the meeting, Avenues TV and Suresh's family presented three demands: to declare him a martyr, to provide compensation to the family, and to conduct a fair investigation and punish the guilty.
They stated that they would not accept Suresh's body until the authorities met their demands.