Drunken youths beat 2 cops to death

JUMLA, July 8: Two policemen, who were beaten up brutally by some inebriated youths at Jufal village of Dolpa district, died of their injuries on Friday.



Kamal Bhandari and Jhaman Reule, who hailed from Arje-1 of Gulmi and Marke-1 of Salyan respectively, breathed their last as local authorities failed to rush them to a properly equipped hospital on time. [break]



Bhandari and Reule, deployed to guard Jufal airport, were thrashed by some 10 drunken youths at 9 p.m. Thursday following an altercation. They beat up the policemen with spears, rods and batons.



According to Chief District Officer (CDO) of Dolpa, Tek Bahadur KC, the altercation took place when the policemen reached a local hotel to pacify a squabble involving the proprietor. The inebriated youths, who were staying at the hotel, went berserk when the altercation turned nasty. It is yet to be ascertained what exactly led to the dispute.



A police team promptly reached the hotel and rushed their colleagues, who sustained serious injuries especially to the head, to a local health post. Health post personnel asked the police to take the injured immediately to Kathmandu, citing the lack of adequate equipment and medicines in the village.



According to CDO KC, a helicopter was sent for. “But the helicopter failed to land in Jufal on time due to bad weather,” KC said. Although Dunai, district headquarters of Dolpa, has a district-level hospital and is just four hours away on foot, the police team did not take the injured there as they were expecting the helicopter.



A team of 27 headed by a Deputy Superintendent of Police has already reached Jufal from Dunai. Police have arrested Bhim Bahadur Budha, Apar Gurung and Raju Thapa, all residents of Dunai, on the charge of involvement in the murders. Police say they were arrested while fleeing Jufal.



Police suspect the involvement of some Nepal Army (NA) personnel in the killings. However, Major Ajaya Gurung has ruled out the possibility of any NA personnel having a hand.



“I don´t know what made the police suspect NA men,” Gurung said. “The local administration and police have called to ask if any of our men was involved in the incident. Their suspicion is baseless.”

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