Kathmandu – ‘Curfew has been imposed, no more permission is needed. Use necessary force.’ The BBC has revealed that the Genji protesters were shot at after the same ‘code’ order given over the radio set at 12:40 pm on Bhadra 23.
The BBC has revealed that the officer with the code ‘Peter-1’ gave such an order in a secret police radio conversation obtained by the BBC.
According to police sources, the police officer with such a code was Inspector General of Police Chandrakuber Khapung. A recent public documentary claims that the bloodshed began after Khapung gave such an order.
The BBC claims that 19 youths, including teenagers in school uniforms, were killed by police bullets fired immediately after Khapung’s order. Around 30,000 youths who gathered at Maitighar Mandala to protest corruption and bans on social media were initially peaceful.
However, according to the BBC, panic spread in the security command room after protesters tried to breach the outer perimeter of the parliament building in the afternoon. The BBC documentary claims that IGP Khapung gave the order to ‘use force’ by giving the option of using ‘non-lethal’ force, leaving the option of using less lethal force.
This is claimed in the 41-minute documentary ‘Shot Like Enemies: Inside Nepal’s Gen-G Uprising’ released by the BBC World Service on Thursday.
The most casualties occurred between 1:15 pm and 2:15 pm on 23 Bhadra after the police order. 17-year-old Shreeyam Chaulagain, who was participating in the protest in a green school uniform, was shot in the head while backing away and clapping.
According to the BBC’s forensic analysis, most of the youths killed did not turn towards the police, but were targeted while they were backing away or while they were standing unarmed.
