KATHMANDU, August 2: Youths affiliated to Akhli Revolutionary have staged a protest rally in front of Indian Embassy in Kathmandu demanding fair investigation on Darchula incident and holding those responsible for the crime accountable. Akhli Revolutionary is a student wing of the NCP (Revolutionary Maoist) led by Hari Krishna Gajurel.

Earlier, Jay Singh Dhami, 33, of Byas Rural Municipality-2 in Darchula district had gone missing after he fell off the improvised cable crossing while crossing the Mahakali River to reach his home in Khalanga, the headquarters of Darchula district. 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. 

Reportedly, Indian SSB men warned Dhami not to cross the river. But as Dhami did not pay any heed to their warning and continued to cross the river through the cable crossing, the SSB men cut off the cable, leaving him to fall into the swelling Mahakali River. 

It is not independently verified yet if the improvised cable crossing had broken off or was cut off by the SSB as claimed by the eyewitnesses. According to Hari Krishna Gajurel, President of Akhil Revolutionary, the youths staged protests against the inhumane behaviour meted out to innocent Nepali citizens. ‘Stop encroaching territory’, ‘Investigate Jay Singh Dami’s case’, and ‘Return all the encroached lands’ were among few slogans chanted by youths during the protest.

Because of the difficult topographical conditions and lack of road connectivity on the Nepali side of the border, people in bordering districts including Darchula in the western Nepal 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 in the past. 

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 and killing an innocent person. They have maintained 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.

 
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